More states are expanding the crimes punishable by death sentence in the face of reluctance of some governors to sign warrants for condemned prisoners to be executed. In this report, OLUGBENGA SOYELE examines the implications of the refusal of the governors to implement the law alongside the arguments for and against capital punishmentOver the years, the Federal and state governments in Nigeria have always reacted to an upsurge in a particular crime by enacting laws to make such crimes punishable by the death penalty. The moment a crime assumes notoriety or begins to overwhelm law enforcement agents, governments response has always been to impose the death penalty for such crime.This trend started during the military regime of General Yakubu Gowon, when in 1970, just after the Nigerian civil war, he introduced the death penalty for armed robbery in response to the alarming increase of the crime in the country. Many experts argued that this move did not solve the problem; in fact, they insisted, robbery is as common today as it was then.During the regime of General Muhammadu Buhari between December 31, 1983-August 27, 1985,the junta enacted Decree 20 which carried a death penalty of which 10 persons were executed by firing squad, all for drug-peddling.Also when the effect of terrorism became too unbearable for the government and Nigerians, after the advent of the deadly terror group, Boko Haram, the federal governments response was the enactment of the Terrorism (Prevention) Act, 2011 and the Terrorism (Prevention) (Amendment) Act, 2013, which introduced the death sentence for terrorism-related offences.However, according to a Global Terrorism Index published by the Institute for Economics and Peace, in 2014, Nigeria witnessed the largest increase in terrorist-related deaths ever recorded by any country, after the laws were passed. The index put the increase at over 300 per cent since 2011.Though the Nigerian Constitution guarantees the right to life, some other offences punishable by death across the Federation, include: Murder & Armed Robbery. Aiding the suicide of a child or lunatic, fabricating false evidence leading to the death of an innocent person, instigating an invasion of Nigeria, treason and conspiracy to treason.Also 12 states in Northern Nigeria use the Sharia law, which prescribes death penalty for apostasy, incest, rape, Liwat (homosexual sodomy) and Zina (adultery). The states include Bauchi, Borno, Gombe, Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Niger, Sokoto, Yobe and Zamfara.In the same vain, the Nigerian Military under its military laws punishes misconduct in action, mutiny and dereliction of duty with the death penalty.There are even clamours from many Nigerians that the death penalty be made to apply to official corruption, vandalization of oil installations, and oil bunkering.Over the last eight years, one crime that has reached epidemic levels in the country is kidnapping and the government particularly the states governments in their efforts to effectively fight the crime have once again turned to the death penalty.Kidnapping is a capital crime in some states in the south-south and south-east of the country and recently the Lagos state Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode signed into law the state kidnapping prohibition bill, 2016.The bill which was passed into law by the State House of Assembly on January 5, 2017, provides for the death penalty for kidnappers whose victims die in their custody, and life imprisonment for the act of kidnapping.The lawmakers also approved 25 years imprisonment as penalty for anyone found guilty of threatening to kidnap another person through phone call, e-mail, text message or any other means of communication.Many stakeholders have described this action as mere political moves and the government pandering to the outrage of society against the violent crime, this conclusion is based on the fact that the only authority recognised by law to issue death warrant authorising the execution of death sentences ordered by the judiciary are the executive arm of government and this has not happened for a while.Since the military disengaged from Nigerian politics in 1999, only two governors have signed death warrants in the country. They are the former Governor of Kano State, Ibrahim Shekarau, who signed the first warrant in 2006, and the Governor of Edo State, Adams Oshiomhole, who signed the warrants of four death row prisoners executed by hanging in Edo State in June 25, 2013.To demonstrate the unwillingness of governors to sign the warrants, the Kano State Governor Abdullahi Ganduje recently suggested that the law, which mandates state governors to sign death warrants of condemned prisoners should be amended by the National Assembly to enable the task to be reassigned to the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN).Ganduje was speaking in reaction to a call from the Comptroller of Prisons, Kano State Command, Alhaji Aliyu Achor, who complainedCONTINUES ON THE NEXT PAGE -50
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