Earlier this month, the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, reiterated its call for the abolition of the death sentence.
The Association believes it not only denies the right to life but also often reflects the failures of the country’s justice system to protect the most vulnerable in society.
The NBA’s position was reinforced through its president, Afam Osigwe, in his opening remarks at a high level technical consultation jointly organised by the National Human Rights Commission, NHRC, Avocats Sans Frontières France, and the Legal Defence and Assistance Project (LEDAP) to commemorate the World Day Against the Death Penalty.
According to the NBA president, the event observed annually on October 10, serves as a powerful reminder of the global movement to challenge the use of capital punishment.
“It is a day that calls us to reflect on the death penalty, not only from a legal perspective but also from a moral, ethical, and human rights viewpoint,” he said.
He equally noted that the event equally presented an opportunity to consider whether the death penalty truly delivers the justice it promises or whether it perpetuates harm and injustice.
Arguing strongly against the practice of death penalty, he quoted the former South African President, Nelson Mandela, as having said: “To deny people their human rights is to challenge their very humanity,” and submitted that death penalty, in its ultimate finality, not only denies the right to life but also often reflects the failures of a country’s justice system to protect the most vulnerable in the society.”
Osigwe further argued that in many parts of the world, there is a growing consensus that the death penalty is an outdated and ineffective form of punishment.
“Over 140 countries have abolished the death penalty or introduced moratoriums on its use. This is a testament to the global recognition of the inherent value of human life and the belief that the justice system must reflect a higher standard of humanity and dignity,” he stated.
He also called attention to the United Nations General Assembly, which he said had passed multiple resolutions urging member states to move towards a moratorium on the death penalty, with the ultimate goal of abolition.
“This global trend aligns with the understanding that the right to life is the foundation of all human rights, and no justice system should take that right away without grave and careful consideration,” he added.
Arguing against the continued practice of death penalty in Nigeria, he said even though it remains a legal instrument in Nigerian to punish offenders of such crimes as armed robbery, terrorism and murder, the danger in the practice is the potential judicial error of wrongly pronouncing an innocent guilty, and ultimately sending such a fellow to an early grave for an offence he or she never committed in the first place.
He said: “In Nigeria, the death penalty remains a legal punishment, and executions are still carried out for various crimes, including armed robbery, terrorism, and murder.
“While it is understandable that the state must protect its citizens and maintain law and order, we must carefully consider the impact of the death penalty on the broader society, as well as the risks it poses to justice itself.
“We cannot ignore the troubling realities of wrongful convictions, the potential for judicial error, and the disproportionately high number of people from vulnerable and marginalised communities who are on death row.
“The death penalty in such cases becomes not just a punishment for the crime but a reflection of the failures of our criminal justice system to provide a fair and equitable process for all.
“As members of the legal profession and human rights community, we must ask difficult questions. Does the death penalty really deter crime? Is it administered fairly, without prejudice or discrimination? And most importantly, are there more humane and effective ways to deliver justice and protect society without resorting to the taking of life?”
He said the association believes that a justice system that upholds the rights of every individual is the foundation of a peaceful and progressive society.
However, beautiful as the NBA’s argument and presentation may sound, some Nigerians are not buying into that.
The thinking in some quarters is that if criminals are not afraid to go into crimes that attract capital punishment even with the existing law on death penalty, it simply means that when it is finally abolished, there would be an astronomical rise in such offences.
It is their belief that the death sentence still restrains a large or sizable number of evil-minded individuals from committing such grave crimes as murder, armed robbery, terrorism, among others.
One of those kicking against the NBA’s position is a public affairs analyst, Emmanuel Aziken.
He disagreed with the NBA, noting that even the Holy Book, the Bible, recommended an eye for an eye.
He argued that whoever that kills maliciously should equally be killed, but emphasized such a sentence should only happen when a thorough investigation has been carried out to prove the person’s guilt or culpability.
It is his considered opinion that if the death penalty is abolished, the rate of murder would increase as people would no longer be restrained.
The life sentence, according to him, is not enough punishment for malicious murder since there are chances of a state pardon even before such a convict spends 10 years in jail.
“One day, one drunk in power will just come and say he is using his prerogative of mercy to grant pardon to such a wicked soul and there is nothing anybody can do about that.
“Just take a look at the rate of malicious murder even with the death sentence in place and imagine what would happen when it is no longer there. So, I don’t support the NBA at all. It should be an eye for an eye as the Bible says,” he told Newspot.
Also contributing, a journalist and public affairs commentator, Nze Ezeocha also disagreed with the NBA.
He, however, insisted that judgment on such cases should be clean and thorough so that the innocent would not fall victim.
He insisted that the death penalty serves as a deterrent to other intending murderers and should not be abolished for any reason.
“It serves as a deterrent to others who may want to commit murder in future. The only thing is that wrong, incompetent and corrupt judges should be avoided in such cases,” he said.
On the NBA’s argument that prison congestion is one of the reasons it is pushing for the abolition of death, Ezeocha called on the state governors to sign genuine death sentences to decongest the prisons.
“Death sentence, surely, will serve as deterrent to other intending criminals and it shouldn’t be abolished. It should be retained in our criminal justice system,” he said.
President of the Arewa Youth Consultative Forum, AYCF, Alhaji Yerima Shettima, also did not agree with the NBA’s position.
In fact, he wondered why anybody should even contemplate that in the first place.
“How can anybody think of that? As stubborn as Nigerians are, even when there is a death sentence, people undermine laws, break laws and get away with it; so how much more when you review the law and say it is not there again? He queried.
“It means that nothing scares anybody any more and it will be a free for all. It means that at the end of the day, people will commit all sorts of crimes with impunity and get away with them.
“This must not be encouraged; there must be a death sentence. In fact, the death sentence must be reinforced because we have people who are leaders but do not have conscience,” he further told Newspot.
Apart from the offences that attract death sentences, he suggested that corruption should also be included in the list of offences that attract death sentences in Nigeria.
“I suggest that on the issue of corruption, there should be a law that recommends death by hanging for anybody found wanting in corruption as it is done in China and other Asian countries,” he submitted.
But, those who are pushing for its abolition, like the NBA, are saying that if death sentence has not been able to deter people from committing grave crimes that attract such punishment after so many years of its existence in the country’s justice system, it then stands to reason that the time has come for an alternative justice system that should replace death sentence.
One of the proponents of this position is a lawyer and public affairs commentator, Ikechukwu Onodi.
He told Newspot: “I have personally had articles published since 1999, which sought for the abolition of death sentences in our criminal jurisprudence.
“So I’m in complete agreement with the leadership of the NBA on the need to abolish death sentences.
“Member countries of the UN had since 1966 on the platform of the Second Optional Protocol of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), sought the abolition of death sentences in the statute books of the contracting states.
“Unfortunately, Nigeria has not acceded to that Protocol. Death sentence is an aberration. The argument of it serving as a deterrent to others is illogical as there are instances to show that criminality became heightened in Nigeria following the public execution of 1976.”
He also argued that since man cannot create life, it is only reasonable that man should not take that which he cannot create.
“Again, man cannot create a life. As such, man should also not terminate a life. To highlight the needlessness of death sentences, no death sentence has been executed in recent times as no governor has summoned the courage to sign any death warrant.
“In effect, inmates on death row are only being subjected to psychological torture,” he said.
He noted that society is the loser if the death sentence is sustained.
To buttress his point, he cited cases of people who were sentenced to death at one time in their lives but fate smiled on them and they were granted pardon. Such persons, he argued, had gone ahead to contribute meaningfully to the development of the country.
“The society is the loser in death sentences. This is because people have been known to become society icons, who by whiskers, got off the hook of death sentence. Former President Olusegun Obasanjo is a living example.
“He was condemned by the late General Sani Abacha military junta for planning a coup. His death sentence was commuted to life jail on the intervention of the international communities.
“He was released and granted pardon by General Abdusalami Abubakar. He contested election in 1999 at the return of democracy in Nigeria, won and became the best President Nigeria has had since 1999,” he stated.
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