By Ikechukwu Nnochiri
As the number of death row inmates in the country continues to swell, stakeholders in the justice sector and concerned foreign missions have nonetheless commended Nigeria for going ten consecutive years without a state execution.
The Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS) recently disclosed that 4,329 persons are currently awaiting execution in various custodial facilities across the federation.
Of this number, more than 82 are women.
In its presentation at an event commemorating the 2026 World Day Against the Death Penalty, the NCoS acknowledged the need for national action on capital punishment, a process it said would ultimately require a constitutional amendment.
“Everybody in our custody has a story, and the way we treat those stories says a lot about our society,” the Comptroller-General of the NCoS, Mr. Sylvester Nwakuche, stated.
The World Day Against the Death Penalty is observed every year on October 10.
This year’s event was jointly organised by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) and Avocats Sans Frontières France (also known as Lawyers Without Borders), with support from the Australian High Commission in Nigeria, the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany, and the Embassy of Spain.
A key outcome of the programme was participants’ unanimous call for a moratorium on executions and for the commutation of existing death sentences to life imprisonment.
The last execution in Nigeria took place on December 23, 2016, when three death row inmates were put to death in Benin, Edo State.
Unsurprisingly, the executions drew varied reactions, with Amnesty International condemning them in strong terms.
It noted that they were carried out even though one of the inmates, Apostle Igene, was sentenced to death in 1997 by a military tribunal and was never afforded the opportunity to appeal the verdict.
The Executive Secretary of the NHRC, Dr. Tony Ojukwu, SAN, observed that, under Nigerian law, capital punishment presents a constitutional duality.
He stated that whereas Section 33(1) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) protects the right to life, it also contains an explicit exception for court-ordered executions.
On the other hand, Section 34(1)(a) guarantees the right to human dignity and protection against inhuman or degrading treatment.
According to Ojukwu, the Supreme Court affirmed the constitutional validity of capital punishment in Onuoha Kalu v. The State (1998) 13 NWLR (Pt. 583) 531, reaffirmed in Joseph Amoshima v. The State (2011) 14 NWLR (Pt. 1268) 547.
“However, the constitutionality of the penalty does not dilute the non-negotiable requirement of fair trial guarantees under Section 36.
Systemic issues, such as inadequate pro bono defence, forced confessions, and pre-trial delays, undermine procedural justice,” he added.
Ojukwu, SAN, argued that Nigeria, having achieved 10 consecutive years without a state execution, has satisfied the international standard for a de facto moratorium.
“Yet, mandatory death sentencing continues, leaving over 3,000 individuals on prolonged death row detention.
“To resolve this limbo, statutory and executive mechanisms exist. Section 12(2)(c) of the Nigerian Correctional Service Act, 2019 authorises the commutation of death sentences for inmates who have exhausted appeals and remain unexecuted after a specified period.
“Furthermore, State Governors possess explicit constitutional powers of prerogative of mercy under Section 212 (and the President under Section 175) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“Pursuant to Section 5 of the NHRC (Amendment) Act 2010, the Commission calls for three immediate policy steps:
Transition Nigeria’s 10-year pause into an official executive moratorium on executions.
“Urge State Governors to systematically invoke Section 212 of the Constitution and Section 12(2)(c) of the NCoS Act to commute death sentences to life imprisonment.
“Re-evaluate mandatory death penalty statutes to allow judges to weigh mitigating circumstances and systemic vulnerabilities during sentencing,” he added.
Prior to 1990, only one country in Africa, Cape Verde, had abolished the death penalty.
However, of the 55 African Union member-states, 28 have now abolished it in law, with Zimbabwe the latest to join the list.
While 20 countries apply a long-term moratorium on executions, seven nations, including Nigeria, still retain and use capital punishment.
German Ambassador to Nigeria, H.E. Stefan Rössel, said that although the death penalty remains part of Nigerian law, the 10-year mark since the last execution is an important milestone that deserves to be celebrated.
Drawing on his country’s experience, the Ambassador said: “Germany opposes the death penalty unconditionally. Working towards its permanent abolition is a pillar of our human rights policy.
“We believe that the right to life is universal, as laid out in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and must not be denied by law.
“The last execution on German soil took place in 1981. Today, Article 102 of the German constitution states simply: ‘Capital punishment is abolished.'”
He said the death penalty raises important questions about justice, human dignity and the protection of human life.
“We recognise the deep suffering caused by serious crimes. The grief of victims and their families must be acknowledged, and their need for justice, truth and support deserves our continued attention.
“At the same time, every justice system must protect human rights and guard against the possibility of error. A death sentence is irreversible. If a conviction is later found to be wrong, the consequences cannot be undone.
“We must also not forget that those sentenced to death often spend years, sometimes decades, behind bars before being executed. At the same time, our understanding of crimes and justice continuously evolves.
“For instance, we have gained a much more nuanced understanding of mental illness in recent decades, and how that might affect the way we judge the circumstances of a crime committed many years ago.
“Ultimately, we need to ask ourselves: do we want to live in a society in which the state is tasked to take a human life?” he queried.
The German Ambassador concluded by recognising that the issue of the death penalty is complex, involving legal questions, public concerns and the needs of victims and their families.
“We hope that Nigeria’s approaching 10-year milestone can be a source of pride. We believe: not using this ultimate form of punishment is a sign of strength, not weakness,” he added.
Likewise, the Australian High Commissioner to Nigeria, H.E. Ms. Leilani Bin-Juda, PSM, described the 10-year non-execution achieved by Nigeria as “a significant milestone that calls for a reflection of how far Nigeria has come and the next step to be taken.”
She urged the country to build on the achievement and chart a way forward, insisting that capital punishment is a cruel, inhumane and degrading punishment that has no place in any modern justice system.
For his part, the Ambassador of Spain to Nigeria, H.E. Félix Costales Artieda, categorically opposed the use of the death penalty “under any circumstance and for any crime.”
He insisted that life is an inalienable fundamental right that no state has the right to take, stressing that there is no evidence that capital punishment has helped to reduce crime anywhere in the world.
The Ambassador noted that in the United States alone, 130 persons sentenced to death have been found innocent and released from death row since 1973.
He urged Nigeria to take appropriate measures to commute the sentences of those already facing the death penalty.
The Country Head of ASF France, Angela Uwandu Uzoma-Iwuchukwu, said the organisation, on the basis of its conviction that the right to life is sacrosanct, had embarked on a series of projects aimed at highlighting the need for Nigeria to do away with capital punishment.
She said it has since represented over 1,000 persons through its Right To Life project.
Referencing the case of Arthur Angel, who spent 16 years in prison, 10 of them on death row at Enugu Prison, before his release in 2000, she argued that lapses in a justice system run by humans cannot be overlooked.
“Arthur Angel spent 16 years in jail for a crime he did not commit,” she noted, insisting the death penalty is “discriminatory as it targets the weakest in the society.
“There are people who cannot afford the services of good lawyers. We all know that the quality of defence provided for a defendant matters so much.
“A lot of those on death row in Nigeria were represented by inexperienced lawyers, some of whom were National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members.
“A mistake made at the trial stage may not be corrected at the appeal stage,” the ASF Country Head added.
She also referenced a recent case involving a poor farmer, Sunday Jackson, who was sentenced to death for self-defence but later pardoned by the Adamawa State Government.
For now, Nigeria’s position is a contradiction: a death penalty on the books, thousands waiting under sentence, and no one carrying it out.
Hopes are high that the 10-year milestone will become a step towards the abolition of capital punishment in the country.
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