CSO faults Aregbesola on capital punishment

A Civil Society Organisation (CSO), Sterling Law Centre has faulted Minister of Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, on his call to state governors to sign death warrants as panacea for prison congestion.

The group made the remarks in a statement to mark the 2022 World Day Against the Death Penalty, which held yesterday. The CSO, in the statement issued by its Executive Director, Deji Ajare, said capital punishment was not a solution to crime, urging its abolition in Nigeria.

He argued that death penalty was no longer fashionable among the world community, explaining that international law demands that it must be restricted to heinous offences like intentional killing.

Ajare noted: “Despite the limited permission in international legal framework, the attitude of most stakeholders favours the abolition of death penalty.”

The statement reads: “Death penalty undermines human dignity. Its abolition, or at least a moratorium on its use, contributes to the enhancement and progressive development of human rights.

Sadly, death penalty, till date, is still retained in Nigeria’s statute books, including the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended). Recent insecurity, especially the rise in cases of kidnapping, banditry and rape has also led some states in jitters to enact new ‘stiff’ laws prescribing the death penalty upon conviction.”