There are no fewer than 3,145 inmates on death row in custodial centres across the country.
Spokesperson for the Nigerian Correctional Service, Umar Abubakar, in his response to an enquiry by one of our correspondents, said there were 3,084 males and 61 females on death row.
Some lawyers and human rights activists have consistently expressed concerns over the fate of the inmates, as most state governors refuse to sign the death warrant, leading to the rising number of inmates on death row. Some of them have suggested the conversion of the death sentence to life imprisonment, while some argued that if government wasn’t unwilling to sign the warrant, capital punishment should be expunged from the constitution and other relevant laws.
Meanwhile, despite complaints by several stakeholders, including lawyers and authorities of the NCoS, over the congestion of the facilities, the number of inmates in the custodial centres has continued to rise, fuelling its congestion and making the management of the centres difficult.
Figures on the website of the NCoS indicated that as of July 4, there were a total of 74,675 inmates in the country, comprising 52,714 awaiting trial and 21,961 convicted inmates. Also, the total number of male inmates was given as 73,139 while there were 1,536 female inmates.
SANS react
Speaking on the fate of inmates on death row, human rights lawyers, Mr Femi Falana (SAN) said the indefinite detention of inmates on death row in correctional facilities could not be justified under the law.
He said, “Our governors ought to be challenged to address prison congestion caused by their failure to ratify death warrants. It is not enough to withhold their approval. We should be honest enough to admit that the death penalty cannot be implemented. Therefore, it ought to go and be replaced by life imprisonment or other terms of imprisonment.
“The law has been amended to say, ‘If a prisoner on death roll exhausts his/her right of appeal and the death penalty is not executed within ten years, the judge has the same powers to commit the death sentence to life imprisonment.’”
Also reacting, Mr Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa (SAN) noted that the governors should exercise their statutory responsibility to sign the warrant for those who have been convicted by the court and have no pending appeal.
He added, “The challenge is that most governors are reluctant to sign. The solution to this is that it would be necessary to consider death row inmates who have been there for a particular time to be committed to life imprisonment. It constitutes torture for one to be expecting to die every day and it lingers on for 10 or fifteen years.
“The Supreme Court has said if one is kept on death roll for too long, it constitutes a torture. The government should set a time limit so anyone waiting to be executed should be committed to life imprisonment or a lesser punishment instead of just crowding the prisons in that regard.”
