At least there are more than 2,000 Nigerians condemned to death in Nigeria, says a coalition of international organizations.
This was disclosed during a press conference held in Abuja on Thursday after visiting different prisons across Nigeria, including Ikoyi, Kirikiri, Port Harcourt and Enugu.
The coalition included the World Coalition for the Abolition of Death Penalty; Community of Sant’Egidio and Life Wire International Foundation.
The Vice-President, World Coalition for the Abolition of Death Penalty, Ms. Annemarie Pieters, said they welcomed the fact that the new law provided the possibility to change capital punishment to life
imprisonment after 10 years.
“The death penalty is not carried out frequently, only seven in the last decade, resulting in a kind of ‘de facto moratorium’ on execution.
“We express concern for the fact that Nigeria continues to have many death sentences, despite the proven fact that this is not a deterrent factor for new crimes to be committed.
“By the end of 2018, there are over 2,000 people on death row in Nigeria, including at least 46 people that have been sentenced to death that year, which is the highest number of people on death row in the region by the end of 2018,” said Pieters.
