Access To Justice Condemns Minister’s Call for Execution Of Death-Row Prisoners

*Describes The Proposal By Aregbesola As
“Preposterous”

Access to Justice has unreservedly frowned at the call by the
Hon. Minister of the interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, to execute
prisoners sentenced to death.

TheNigerialawyer reports that Aregbesola, had on Friday, while
officially commissioning Osun State Command Headquarters,
Correctional Office Complex in Osogbo, urged state Governors to
sign the execution orders for inmates on death row, which in the
Minister’s opinion, would help resolve the problem of congestion in
Correctional centers nationwide.

He also stated that out of 68,747 inmates currently housed in
correctional facilities nationwide, 50, 992 of them are awaiting
trial, while 17,755 have been convicted and serving sentences.
Access to Justice, in its reaction, described Aregbesola’s
statement “Preposterous”.

According to the statement signed by the convener, Joseph Otteh,
and the project director, Deji Ajare, A2J denounced the Minister’s
Position.

“Access to Justice finds this proposal preposterous; it treats
human lives as intrinsically expendable objects or commodities
which may be dispensed with in order to achieve a better
representation of prison demographics.

“But human life – whether of persons under sentence of death or
not – is far too valuable than to be used as a means of
reconfiguring the prison population, or reducing it, and it is
unfortunate that the Hon. Minister would make this kind of
obnoxious call.

“Besides, this, A2Justice fears that if the Minister’s call is
heeded, many death row convicts who have pending appeals against
their convictions will be at risk at execution even before their
appeals are determined following administrative errors.

“This is not a misplaced fear, and there are precedents of such
errors leading to unlawful executions.

“Besides this, it is important to note that even from the
statistics reported by the Minister, it is clear that the problem
of congestion is not as a result of an uptick in the number of
sentenced persons, including those on death row.

“The congestion is caused by the disturbing demographic of
inmates who are awaiting trial (pre-trial or under-trial inmates),
who account for 74% of the total inmate population. What government
ought to do is to step up to the plate and address the chronic
problem of pre-trial detention in order to manage the incidence of
prison congestion, not to request that inmates be executed in order
to reduce it.

Many factors account for the high level of prison congestion,
but part of them include political persecution and the misuse of
criminal justice institutions.

“The arrests and jailing of political and civil rights
activists, including those agitating for the restructuring of
Nigeria, ENDSARs protesters of police violence, members of
religious groups protesting the disrespect of court decisions to
release their incarcerated members, or simply those clamouring for
better political governance all aggravate the prison congestion
problem.

“These are low-hanging fruits and government can, by simply
accommodating dissent as part of the democratic process alongside
respecting other civil rights, ameliorate the pre-trial population
of correctional centres.

Finally, Access to Justice is strongly opposed to the infliction
of the death penalty, particularly given the vulnerabilities and
frailties of Nigeria’s judicial system. The punishment is both
extreme and its sanctions irreversible after it is executed, even
when errors are afterward discovered.

“Access to Justice thus calls on the National Assembly to
abolish the death penalty in Nigeria.”

*Describes The Proposal By Aregbesola As
“Preposterous”

Access to Justice has unreservedly frowned at the call by the
Hon. Minister of the interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, to execute
prisoners sentenced to death.

TheNigerialawyer reports that Aregbesola, had on Friday, while
officially commissioning Osun State Command Headquarters,
Correctional Office Complex in Osogbo, urged state Governors to
sign the execution orders for inmates on death row, which in the
Minister’s opinion, would help resolve the problem of congestion in
Correctional centers nationwide.

He also stated that out of 68,747 inmates currently housed in
correctional facilities nationwide, 50, 992 of them are awaiting
trial, while 17,755 have been convicted and serving sentences.
Access to Justice, in its reaction, described Aregbesola’s
statement “Preposterous”.

According to the statement signed by the convener, Joseph Otteh,
and the project director, Deji Ajare, A2J denounced the Minister’s
Position.

“Access to Justice finds this proposal preposterous; it treats
human lives as intrinsically expendable objects or commodities
which may be dispensed with in order to achieve a better
representation of prison demographics.

“But human life – whether of persons under sentence of death or
not – is far too valuable than to be used as a means of
reconfiguring the prison population, or reducing it, and it is
unfortunate that the Hon. Minister would make this kind of
obnoxious call.

“Besides, this, A2Justice fears that if the Minister’s call is
heeded, many death row convicts who have pending appeals against
their convictions will be at risk at execution even before their
appeals are determined following administrative errors.

“This is not a misplaced fear, and there are precedents of such
errors leading to unlawful executions.

“Besides this, it is important to note that even from the
statistics reported by the Minister, it is clear that the problem
of congestion is not as a result of an uptick in the number of
sentenced persons, including those on death row.

“The congestion is caused by the disturbing demographic of
inmates who are awaiting trial (pre-trial or under-trial inmates),
who account for 74% of the total inmate population. What government
ought to do is to step up to the plate and address the chronic
problem of pre-trial detention in order to manage the incidence of
prison congestion, not to request that inmates be executed in order
to reduce it.

Many factors account for the high level of prison congestion,
but part of them include political persecution and the misuse of
criminal justice institutions.

“The arrests and jailing of political and civil rights
activists, including those agitating for the restructuring of
Nigeria, ENDSARs protesters of police violence, members of
religious groups protesting the disrespect of court decisions to
release their incarcerated members, or simply those clamouring for
better political governance all aggravate the prison congestion
problem.

“These are low-hanging fruits and government can, by simply
accommodating dissent as part of the democratic process alongside
respecting other civil rights, ameliorate the pre-trial population
of correctional centres.

Finally, Access to Justice is strongly opposed to the infliction
of the death penalty, particularly given the vulnerabilities and
frailties of Nigeria’s judicial system. The punishment is both
extreme and its sanctions irreversible after it is executed, even
when errors are afterward discovered.

“Access to Justice thus calls on the National Assembly to
abolish the death penalty in Nigeria.”