Society

What You Should Know About Death Penalty in Nigeria

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Nigeria is today one of the most violent countries on earth, yet it is among the few, whose justice system is unable to punish crimes.

Death penalty is in the constitution for violent crimes which requires state governors to sign death warrants before execution is carried. Since the inception of this dispensation, only one governor, Adams Oshiomhole ever signed a death warrant.

There are seven thousand death warrants awaiting assent today. Authority goes with responsibility. The governors should do the job that is required of them constitutionally rather than be signing contracts that rob their states of drugs in hospitals.

Some people want us to behave like sane nations and abolish death sentence. They mean well out of ignorance. Where they want us to be, I pray we get there sometimes, in our lifetimes.

A society that is sane with low level of crime and is rich enough to afford feeding criminals for life should abolish death penalty.

We are not there yet. While respecting their view point I must also say they amuse me the way they analyse Nigeria as one normal country.

The criminal justice system has to function and the only way is to get people to fully account for their crimes.

From corruption, kidnapping, terrorism, murder and other violent offences, no one seems to get punished.

One can imagine how dysfunctional our justice system is that as of today there is no one serving any punishment on account of his or her involvement in terrorism. None of the members of Boko Haram is facing death sentence despite the degree of havoc they wrecked on the land.

That was why I advocated for a special courts for terrorism, preferably a military tribunal.

Again despite being number four most corrupt nation on earth we have only two former governors serving jail term. No minister yet.

Even the banks’ executives are free after sending the banking industry into a dark vortex.

A court case l confirmed by supreme court is legal and the judgement must be executed. But we have people whose sentence have been confirmed by Supreme Court still awaiting execution.

Police kill extra-judicially because they accused the courts of failing to deliver judgements to violent criminals.

Although Nigeria is today one of the most violent countries on earth, yet it is among the few, whose justice system is unable to punish crimes. Death penalty is in the constitution for violent crimes which requires state governors to sign death warrants before execution is carried.

People take laws into their hands because they lack faith in our judiciary, a good example of failure of criminal justice system.

By Aliyu Nuhu