Nigerian governors approve execution of convicted prisoners
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LAGOS (AFP) – Nigeria's state governors have backed the execution of more than 300 prisoners on death row to clear space in the overcrowded jails of Africa's most populous country.

"It was agreed that those people who have been condemned should be executed accordingly," said Theodore Orji, governor of the southeastern state of Abia, after a meeting of the 36 state governors in Abuja late Tuesday.

A total of 330 prisoners are on death row in a country where capital punishment remains on the statutes despite rarely being implemented.

The last official execution dates from 2002, but Amnesty International, which campaigns against the death penalty, said it has found evidence of ongoing secret executions in prisons.

The governors, who have the power to sign execution orders, said also that 80 percent of Nigeria's prison population is awaiting trial and efforts should be made to "leave go" those serving lengthy remands, according to Orji.

Koyode Odeyemi of the Nigerian Prisones Service told AFP that 36,000 of the 40,106 inmates are awaiting trial.

Human rights activist Chidi Odinkalu of the Open Society Justice Initiative said that instead of clearing a death-row backlog, the governors should probe the methods used by the police to tackle crime.

"There is a major problem in Nigeria with the death penalty pending. The police cannot investigate adequately. The only way of investigation the police has is torture followed by confession," said Odinkalu, a lawyer.

"That is why the governors cannot in conscience sign the death warrants," he said.

In an incident that highlighted the problem late Tuesday, two inmates were killed and 41 others, including two warders, were injured in a riot at an overcrowded jail in northern Nigeria.

The prison in Kaduna was designed to hold 524 prisoners but with a population of 790, according to the head of the Nigeria Prisons Service, Olusola Ogundipe. He said 530 of these are awaiting trial.

He said delays in prosecution and congestion in the facility were to blame for the riot.

Human rights groups said some of the prisoners have been awaiting trial for 10 years.

United Nations special rapporteur on torture Manfred Nowak on Tuesday called for the immediate release of 20,000 prisoners in Nigeria "since most had already exceeded the maximum penalty possible in relation to the crime they were suspected of committing."

Speaking at a crime prevention and social justice conference in Brazil, Nowak -- who has visited Nigeria several times -- said that "in far too many countries, pretrial detention, serves as a type of preliminary punishment for all criminal suspects who lack sufficient money to bribe corrupt police or prison officials, judges and prosecutor."

"The decision by the governors is unfortunate because those awaiting execution or trial are not responsible for prison congestion," said Lagos human rights lawyer Festus Keyamo. "Those on death row should have their sentences commuted."

"Under our law, the governors have prerogative of mercy to commute death sentences to life imprisonment. This is what the governors should do rather than to call for execution of those on the death row," Keyamo said.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100421/wl_africa_afp/nigeriaprisonjusticeexecutions?

Would they suggest to have political leader that steals to be on the death row as well?

Those are the kind of burning issues we desperately need their attention, prison de-congestion is far more important than provision of power.
Well there may be a point in it, we need the prison to be decongested to pave the way for new crimnals Ibori, Ogulafor, Andoka, Timipriye Silvia, etc.

tundewoods:

It is so sad but the fact still remains that the prisons have to decongested one way or the other.

See warped thinking. Of all reasons to take human lives, it's that our prisons are overcrowded. If politicians like those Governors who approved this were not always stealing, we would probably have enough money to fund our public infrastructure, including prisons.

tundewoods:

It is so sad but the fact still remains that the prisons have to decongested one way or the other.

aaarrrggghhh

Not only execute these criminals but also execute these corrupt officials as well.

Maybe we should follow the Chinese Model!

Nigeria criminal justice system is a bad one.most of the inmates have served for a long period of time after their conviction for death penalty.my own concern is not about death penalty or not but accelerated justice system.
punishment should commensurate with crimes committed irrespective of personal.

Death penalty should be allowed only for corruption.

so i guess their appeals can be thrown out because of prison decongestion.

we sure value human lives in this country.

Can't the governors sign death warrants on themselves?

On a serious note. A lot needs to be done about our justice system. It is grossly immoral that 80% of inmates are awaiting trial (and have been doing so for years).
Our jail system were originally designed by the colonial power, to lock up "troublesome" black men; after independence, it has evolved into a place to hold "troublesome" poor or disenfranchised folk. Some urgent introspection and catharsis needs to be to take place to change our immoral societal setup.

See pot calling kettle black. God dey .

It ain't easy!!! I feel so bad. Life without parole is worst though. These guys aren't innocent either neither are the governors. Dark age indeed. every new invention in this world leads to crime one way or the other damn Life is hard!!!! As read this news I felt where we heading in this world. You can's be to easy on these criminals but the people approving of stopping their heart beats must have no feelings too and are probably as heartless.

gov t a orji should be the first to be shot, see aba, a dying town

Nigeria is a joke! 36000 out of 40000 are awaiting trial and these governors think executing 300 condemned prisoners will decongest the prisons? While I support the death penalty in cases of murder I wont be suprised if half of these condemned prisoners are innocent.

It is illegal now to execute people all of the world. Nigeria. By the time they put economy sanction on nigeria. Una go stop. Do not execute anybody. It is illegal.

The legal system in Nigeria needs change.

What the government should do is reduce the power of judges in the way they send people to jail.

There should be a guideline to what the maximum and the minimum number of years and month a crime should be. This is what is done abroad.

If someone steal good less than $5000, everybody who steal less than 5000 should go to jail for the same number of month. If some steal more than 1,000,000 . There should be a stardard number of month , he can go to jail. It should not be fix by a judge.

All type of crime should have minimum and maximum stardard and any judge that goes beyoud this limit, loss his licence. This is what they do over here.

No like nigeria , when some have a disagreement with the government or police. They send him to life in prison. This is the reason the jails are full.

With a stardard. Court process would reduce. And everybody would know the number of time they would be in jail.


3 month in prison for N1 to N5,000 worth
6 month in prison for N5000 to 20,000 worth
Kidnapper 24 month in jail.
etc etc. This is how it is done here.

There are also civil law. which are not criminal offense over here. Traffic laws are civil law. You get fines . city law are civil law. You do not need the court system sometime. People pay ticket for this. Property law are civil law.

may be any money above N5,000,000 you taken all the property of the person concern. this is one of the way to reduce the prison system.

Can you see how our leaders are always REACTING instead of being PROACTIVE. Is it not ridiculous that they are reasoning that the execution of condemned inmates will bring the numbers of prisoner down even when the statistics shows that about 70% or more of the population are awaiting trials.

It is sad to note that someone accused of stealing an item worth N5,000 can languish in Nigerian prison for 5years without being tried and convicted. Some were locked up because they refuse to give bribe to policemen. Such inmates shouldn't be in prison to start with. So, they are suppose to be the first set that attention will be given to, not those awaiting execution.

If our leaders are to be sincere, they will simply set up committees to visit the prisons and do an on the spot review of the kind of inmates that each prison is having.

Any case that is civil should be immediately reviewed and the trial fast-tracked. That way, in a matter of months, the prisons will be seriously dis-congested.

Also, fund should be committed to the construction of new prisons instead of squeezing prisoners into present facilities that were built several decades ago.

Here is food for thought. How can a man be reformed, when he is being treated as an animal? Nigerian prisons need urgent attention not lip service or cheap talk.