Could you imagine what this elected state governor did in his first few weeks in office? The first project the newly elected Edo State governor executed after taking his oath of office was to authorize the execution of three inmates on death row. What an achievement! Did I hear someone say, they were his family enemies?
Anyway that's by the way, even as it earned the governor his first international bashing. The international human rights organisation Amnesty International (AI) has slammed the newly inaugurated Edo State government for executing three prisoners who were on death row on Friday, December 23.
The Punch reports that AI urged the Nigerian authorities, including state governments to return to putting a temporary stop to executions in the hopes of eventually abolishing the use of capital punishments.
In a statement on Thursday, December 29, AI’s Acting Country Director Makmid Kamara said Edo state’s action is a “backward step in the global trend towards abolition of the death penalty.”
The statement read: “Amnesty International strongly condemns the executions on December 23 2016 of three death row prisoners in Benin City prison by the Edo State government and calls on authorities in Nigeria not to carry out any further executions of death row prisoners.
”We urge the Nigerian government, including all states in the federation, to return to a moratorium on executions, with a view of abolishing the death penalty.
“The latest executions in Edo state is a backward step in the global trend towards abolition of the death penalty and is inconsistent with Nigeria’s international human rights commitments.
“Stopping executions and doing away with the death penalty does not mean that criminals go unpunished. It is essential that human rights standards, including allowing for full appeals to complete, are respected in all stages of the criminal justice process. All punishments must be compatible with human rights.”
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