Nigeria’s prisons are currently overwhelmed with inmates. Among them, thousands are awaiting trial, while others are either serving their sentences or have been sentenced to death. As of July 2022, approximately 3,145 inmates were on death row in custodial centers across the country, with 3,084 being men and 61 women. This situation has made the decongestion of correctional facilities a nearly impossible task. The congestion is exacerbated by a laborious justice system and the indiscriminate arrests of innocent individuals by security agents, particularly police officers. Efforts by state governors, chief judges, and the Minister of Justice to alleviate prison overcrowding through the regular release of unjustly incarcerated individuals have not been systematic. A report indicated that in 2022, the Federal Government and various states pardoned only 707 inmates nationwide.
Concerns regarding the fate of convicts have been consistently raised by lawyers and human rights activists, particularly as governors have been reluctant to sign death warrants, resulting in a growing number of inmates on death row. Some advocates have suggested converting death sentences to life imprisonment, while others argue that if governors are unwilling to sign the warrants, capital punishment should be removed from the constitution entirely. Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Femi Falana, has stated that keeping a convict on death row for an extended period constitutes torture. Despite these concerns from various stakeholders, the number of inmates continues to rise. As of January 30, the Nigerian Correctional Service reported a total of 74,059 inmates, including 51,567 awaiting trial and 21,961 convicted inmates. Of these, 72,475 were male and 1,584 female. The total number of convicted inmates was 22,492, with 22,088 being male and 404 female. This represents 30 percent of the entire inmate population in the country.
Crimes such as murder, manslaughter, kidnapping, and homicide carry the death penalty. Although judges issue these sentences, governors must sign the death warrants for executions to occur. However, governors have increasingly shied away from this responsibility, further worsening the congestion in already overflowing prisons. They often cite sentiments and political correctness as reasons for their inaction. Recently, the Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola, urged governors to sign the death warrants for over 3,000 convicts awaiting execution, particularly those whose appeals have been exhausted. He argued that this step is essential for decongesting prisons nationwide. Aregbesola outlined three paths to alleviate prison overcrowding, emphasizing that many inmates have been in custody longer than the maximum sentences for their alleged offenses, which he described as a miscarriage of justice.
It is noteworthy that during his tenure as governor of Osun, Aregbesola did not sign any death warrants. Following his call, the NGO Carmelite Prisoners’ Interest Organisation expressed concerns that signing death warrants would violate the right to life and argued that capital punishment contradicts the African Union’s moratorium on executions. They contended that it would be unjust to execute convicts while ignoring repentant insurgents and bandits who have committed more severe crimes. The death penalty remains one of the most controversial and debated issues globally. Many groups consider it barbaric and inhumane, arguing that it does not effectively reduce homicide rates and that the ends do not justify the means, especially in cases of wrongful convictions.
The number of countries that have abolished or suspended capital punishment is steadily increasing, yet Nigeria has yet to consider this option. According to the Death Penalty Information Centre, over 70 percent of the world’s countries have abolished capital punishment in law or practice. Kazakhstan and Papua New Guinea are among the latest nations to outlaw it, with their laws taking effect in late 2021 and early 2022, respectively. Data from Amnesty International indicates that by the end of 2021, 108 countries had abolished the death penalty for all crimes, while 144 countries had abolished it in law or practice. Additionally, 28 countries had effectively abolished the death penalty by not executing anyone in the past decade, leaving 55 countries that still retain it for ordinary crimes. Proponents of the death penalty often view it as a necessary measure to protect society from the most heinous offenders.
Although former Governor Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa State and Governor Simon Lalong of Plateau State have publicly stated their commitment to signing death warrants for convicted kidnappers, there is no record of them doing so. The only recent governor in Nigeria to sign a death warrant was former Edo State Governor Adams Oshiomhole, an action that drew significant criticism. The Nigerian Correctional Service has presented governors with three options: sign the death warrants of those who have exhausted their appeals, commute their death sentences to life imprisonment, or grant them pardons. Until Nigeria removes Section 33, which legalizes the death penalty from the constitution, governors must overcome their reluctance and take decisive action regarding these options.
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