Source:

Death penalty cases [ID 14918]

"Sani Yakubu Rodi, aged 27, was executed by hanging on 3 January at Katsina Prison following the expiration of the statutory 30-day period to appeal against the sentence. He had been found guilty in November 2001 by a Sharia court in Katsina of the murder of a woman and her two children.
Amina Lawal, aged 30, was sentenced on 22 March to stoning to death for adultery by a Sharia court at Bakori, Katsina State. She allegedly confessed at her first trial to having had a child while divorced. On 19 August the Sharia Court of Appeal in Funtua, Katsina State, upheld the death sentence. Amina Lawal's appeal against the sentence to the Upper Sharia Court of Appeal of Katsina was still pending at the end of the year. Amina Lawal's case was the subject of a worldwide campaign by several non-governmental organizations, including AI, against death sentences and cruel, inhuman or degrading punishments passed by Sharia courts in northern Nigeria.
On 25 March the Sharia Court of Appeal of Sokoto State ordered the acquittal of Safiya Yakubu Hussaini, who was facing death by stoning for adultery. She had been sentenced to death in October 2001 by a Sharia court in Gwadabawa, Sokoto State."

Source:

Woman, who got pregnant after being raped, sentenced to death according to Sharia law; international protests [ID 14925]

A woman who became pregnant after a rape faces sentence of death according to Sharia; international protests

"Wegen Ehebruchs hat ein islamisches Gericht in Nigeria eine 35-jährige Frau zum Tod durch Steinigung verurteilt; die junge Frau wurde nach eigenen Angaben von einem Freund ihres Vaters vergewaltigt und geschwängert."

23.05.2007 - Source: Amnesty International

500 prisoners were estimated to be on death row; no executions were reported ("Annual Report 2007") [ID 20155]

"Approximately 500 prisoners were estimated to be on death row. No executions were reported. However, at least 18 death sentences were handed down during 2006."

Document(s): Open document

23.05.2007 - Source: Amnesty International

UN report expressed concern about death penalty: procedural irregularities and use of torture were widespread; death row conditions were atrocious ("Annual Report 2007") [ID 20156]

"In a report published in January, the UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions (who visited Nigeria in 2005) highlighted three main concerns related to the death penalty. He noted widespread procedural irregularities, including the use of torture by the police to extract confessions and a lack of legal representation in capital cases. He criticized death row conditions as atrocious and stated that the average 20-year stay on death row was unacceptable. He also criticized the imposition of death by stoning for adultery or sodomy in 12 states, in contravention of Nigerian and international law."

Document(s): Open document

23.05.2007 - Source: Amnesty International

107 death row inmates reportedly had their sentences commuted to life imprisonment ("Annual Report 2007") [ID 20157]

"On 1 October, 107 death row inmates reportedly had their sentences commuted to life imprisonment as part of the country's Independence Day celebrations."

Document(s): Open document

08.2006 - Source: Norwegian Country of Origin Information Center

There seems to be an unofficial moratorium on executions ("Report on Fact-finding trip to Nigeria (Abuja, Lagos and Benin City) 12-26 March 2006") [ID 18696]

"The issue of the death penalty continues to be a priority for the National Human Rights Commission. Bukhari Bello (NHRC) stated that «there seems to be an unofficial moratorium on executions.» According to Tony Ojukwu, Deputy Director of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), the commission’s National Study Group recommended an official moratorium to reflect the ”unofficial” one in October 2004. So far, such an official moratorium has not been implemented. Complete abolition of the death penalty remains a long-term aim: «however, this involves a constitutional amendment, so it will take time,» Bukhari Bello (NHRC) said. The last execution in Nigeria was the hanging of Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight fellow MOSOP6 activists in November 1995. According to Amnesty International, death sentences were passed in Nigeria during both 2004 and 20057 – thus the number of people currently awaiting capital punishment in the country is increasing."

Document(s): Open document

23.05.2006 - Source: Amnesty International

Death sentences continued to be handed down, but no executions were carried out ("Annual Report 2006") [ID 17504]

"Death sentences continued to be handed down, but no executions were carried out. While one government commission recommended a moratorium on the death penalty or its abolition, others called for its continued use against juveniles and, reportedly, the execution of death row prisoners to decongest the prisons."

Document(s): Open document

23.05.2006 - Source: Amnesty International

4 death sentences handed down, no executions carried out ("Annual Report 2006") [ID 17512]

"No executions were carried out. However, at least four death sentences were handed down by Sharia (Islamic law) courts in northern Nigeria. Appellate courts overturned one death sentence passed by Sharia courts."

Document(s): Open document

23.05.2006 - Source: Amnesty International

Introduction of legal systems and mandatory death penalty based on religion ("Annual Report 2006") [ID 17517]

"The government did not make public its response to recommendations for a moratorium on the death penalty by the National Study Group on the Death Penalty, which submitted its report in October 2004. In July a committee of the National Political Reform Conference, whose representatives met from February onwards to debate a new Constitution, recommended that minors should be executed when they committed “heinous offences such as armed robbery and cultism”. A presidential committee set up in March 2004 to review death row prisoners reportedly recommended that they could be executed to decongest Nigeria’s prisons. In March the UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief, during a fact-finding mission to Nigeria, raised human rights concerns about the introduction of legal systems and a mandatory death penalty based on religion. The UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, whose mandate includes the death penalty, also visited Nigeria in June and July."

Document(s): Open document

07.10.2005 - Source: UN Human Rights Council (formerly UN Commission on Human Rights)

Legal foundation relating to the death penalty ("Report of the Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief, Asma Jahangir; Mission to Nigeria [E/CN.4/2006/5/Add.2]") [#43285],  [ID 14911]

"Article 6 (2) of ICCPR, to which Nigeria is a State party, provides, inter alia, that “[i]n countries which have not abolished the death penalty, sentence of death may be imposed only for the most serious crimes”. Besides, in general comment No. 6 on article 6, the Human Rights Committee clearly stated that “the expression ‘most serious crimes’ must be read restrictively to mean that the death penalty should be a quite exceptional measure” (para. 7). In addition, paragraph 1 of the Safeguards guaranteeing protection of the rights of those facing
the death penalty provides that “[i]n countries which have not abolished the death penalty, capital punishment may be imposed only for the most serious crimes, it being understood that their scope should not go beyond intentional crimes with lethal or extremely grave consequences”.

Despite this obligation under international law, the Special Rapporteur notes with great concern that Nigerian sharia penal codes provide for death sentences for offences which do not fall into the category of the “most serious crimes”. Such a position has been taken by other
United Nations human rights mechanisms, including with regard to Nigeria.

The death penalty for children is prohibited under article 37 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. While Hadd punishments are not per se applicable to minors, the Nigerian sharia penal codes define a child as being below the age of taklif.16 However, according to the
information submitted to the Special Rapporteur, no sentence of death has so far been passed against a child."

Document(s): Open document

13.01.2005 - Source: Human Rights Watch

No executions have taken place since early 2002 ("World report 2005") [#28197],  [ID 14913]

"Shari’a (Islamic law), which was extended to cover criminal law in 2000, is in force in twelve of Nigeria’s thirty-six states. Shar’ia has provisions for sentences amounting to cruel inhuman and degrading treatment, including death sentences, amputations and floggings. However, the number of sentences that have been handed down by Shari’a courts has decreased and there appears to be a reluctance on the part of the authorities to carry them out. No executions or amputations have taken place since early 2002 though a number of defendants remain under sentence of death. For example in September and October 2004, two women in Bauchi state, were sentenced to death by stoning for adultery."

Document(s): Open document

08.2004 - Source: Austrian Centre for Country of Origin and Asylum Research and Documentation

General information on the death penalty ("Nigeria - Länderbericht") [#28135],  [ID 14912]

"Die nigerianische Verfassung sowie die beiden genannten Strafgesetzbücher kennen die Todesstrafe (AI 2004, Nigeria – Women 1.1). Im November 2003 initiierte Präsident Obasanjo eine parlamentarische Debatte zu dem Thema. Es wurde eine National Study Group on the Death Penalty eingesetzt, um Empfehlungen zur Stellung der Todesstrafe in der Verfassung zu erarbeiten (AI 2004, Nigeria). Der Comptroller-General des Nigerian Prison Service sprach sich in diesem Zusammenhang gegen die Aufhebung der Todesstrafe aus, da sich hierdurch das Problem der Überbelegung (siehe weiter unten) weiter verschärfen würde (AI 2004, Nigeria – Women 6.).

Sowohl unter dem Criminal Code und dem Penal Code als auch unter dem Scharia-Strafrecht werden laut Amnesty International (AI) Exekutionen vollstreckt. Die letzte Exekution (Stand Mai 2004) wurde am 03.01.2002 durchgeführt (AI 21. Mai 2004). Anfang 2004 warteten 487 Personen auf ihre Hinrichtung (BBC 23. Januar 2004). Offizielle Stellen sprechen hingegen von 448 Personen (Stand 20.01.2004), wie Amnesty International festhält (AI 21. Mai 2004)."

Document(s): Open document

26.05.2004 - Source: Amnesty International

No executions were carried out during 2003 ("Annual Report 2004") [#22703],  [ID 14914]

"No executions were carried out during the year. Death sentences were passed both by the high courts and by Sharia courts in northern Nigeria. The new Sharia penal laws have changed the punishment for Muslims convicted of zina crimes from flogging to a mandatory death penalty, and have extended jurisdiction in capital cases to the lowest courts in the Sharia judicial system.

Jibrin Babaji was sentenced to death by stoning on 14 September by a Sharia court in Bauchi, northwest Nigeria, after being convicted under Sharia penal law of "sodomy" involving three minors. He was not represented by a lawyer and was convicted by a single judge. He had legal counsel at his appeal hearing in December, which had not concluded by the end of 2003.

Sentences of death by stoning passed in previous years continued to be a focus for worldwide criticism.

On 25 September the Upper Sharia Court of Appeal of Katsina State in northern Nigeria overturned the sentence of death by stoning passed on Amina Lawal at Bakori in March 2002. The court ruled that neither her conviction nor her confession was legally valid, and that no offence had been established. She had been convicted of zina after bearing a child outside marriage, and the death sentence had been upheld by a lower Sharia court of appeal.

In August the Sharia Court of Appeal in Dutse, Jigawa State, dismissed a sentence of death by stoning on Sarimu Mohamed Baranda, aged 54. The court allowed an appeal by his relatives on the grounds that he was suffering from a mental illness and ordered his admission to hospital. He had been sentenced to death in July 2002 after he confessed to raping a nine-year-old child, a confession he said later had been made under duress.

Others still faced the death penalty at the end of 2003 for alleged acts of zina.

An appeal against a sentence of death by stoning passed on Fatima Usman and Ahmadu Ibrahim in May 2002 was still pending at the end of 2003 after it was indefinitely adjourned in June by the Sharia Court of Appeal in Minna, Niger State. The couple were initially sentenced to five years' imprisonment for zina by a secular lower court. A court in New Gawu imposed the death penalty in May 2002, in their absence, after Fatima Usman's father complained to the state's Islamic authorities that the first sentence was too light. The federal authorities recognized only the first sentence, however, and refused to hand the couple over to the Islamic authorities. In October 2002 they were released on humanitarian grounds to await the appeal.

President Obasanjo initiated a parliamentary debate on the death penalty in November. The National Study Group on the Death Penalty was set up to produce recommendations on the status of the death penalty in the Constitution."

Document(s): Open document
Open document

10.02.2004 - Source: Amnesty International

Report on the death penalty, especially its discriminatory use against women ("The Death Penalty and Women under the Nigeria Penal Systems") [#19218],  [ID 14915]

Document(s): Open document

27.10.2003 - Source: BBC News

: Briton and a long-term resident of Nigeria sentenced to death by a Nigerian court for the murder of his Australian partner ("Briton sentenced to death in Nigeria") [#17117],  [ID 14916]

Document(s): Open document

10.10.2003 - Source: Amnesty International

Death penalty for extra marital relationship in Niger State ("Death Penalty: Cases and developments 2003 [ACT 50/011/2003]") [#16673],  [ID 14917]

""Ahmadu Ibrahim and Fatima Usman were originally convicted for extra-marital relationship by a Sharia court in Niger State and sentenced, in absentia, to death by stoning in May 2002. They did not have legal representation during their first trial. They now have a defence lawyer working on their case. The lawyer is supported by Baobab for women's human rights, a Nigerian NGO. Their appeal is now pending.

Last year five people were sentenced to death under new Sharia penal legislation. One of them was Amina Lawal whose sentence to death by stoning was overturned by a Sharia Court of Appeal in Katsina State on 25 September this year. Since 1999 new Sharia penal legislation have been introduced in 12 northern states in Nigeria. These new laws provide for mandatory death sentences for consensual sexual relations outside marriage and murder cases. ""

Document(s): Open document

28.05.2003 - Source: Amnesty International

In 2002 at least 5 people sentenced to death under Sharia laws in the North; no executions of persons sentenced to death based on laws other than Sharia in 2002 ("Annual Report 2003") [#13067],  [ID 14919]

"At least three death sentences were passed by High Courts, and on 27 May the Supreme Court upheld four death sentences passed by a High Court in Abia State in 1999. There were no executions of people who had been convicted of offences under non-Sharia penal codes.

Sharia-based penal legislation, which provides for mandatory death sentences for extra-marital sex and for murder, continued to be implemented in some states of northern Nigeria. One person was executed for murder and at least five death sentences were passed by Sharia courts in Bauchi, Kaduna, Jigawa and Niger States for offences related to sexual conduct."

Document(s): Open document
Open document

11.11.2002 - Source: Integrated Regional Information Network

Government will not allow people to be stoned to death ("Nigeria: No deaths by stoning, government official says") [#9514],  [ID 14920]

Document(s): Open document

08.10.2002 - Source: BBC News

Couple sentenced to death by stoning for adultery ("No respite for Nigeria stoning couple") [#8873],  [ID 14921]

Document(s): Open document

29.08.2002 - Source: Integrated Regional Information Network

Death sentence for adultery is unconstitutional, but the Federal government fears alienating northern states by taking action ("29/08/2002 - IRIN: Focus on Shari'ah sentence controversy") [ID 14922]

"Minister of Justice and Attorney-General Kanu Agabi was more pointed in expressing the government's readiness to challenge the death sentence for adultery. "The death sentence on Amina... raised substantial issues of law and fact worthy of the attention of the court of appeal," he told reporters. "We must appeal against the judgement." [...]
Critics have bemoaned what they see as the weakness of the government's case-by-case approach to the Shari'ah judgements. "This approach of taking each case as it comes up is certainly not good enough," human rights lawyer Onoja Ocheje told IRIN. "The Shari'ah sentences represent a fundamental challenge to the constitution, which Obasanjo and his government have sworn to defend."
Not only does the Nigerian constitution forbid torture, inhuman and degrading treatment but the country is a signatory to international conventions that are in direct opposition to such practices, Ocheje said. Besides, he added, the Nigeria constitution states that where any law (whether passed by local or regional governments) come into conflict with the constitution, then such laws become void.
Curiously, the Nigerian state governments that have introduced Shari'ah law defend their right to do so on the constitutional guarantee on the freedom of religion. Shari'ah, they have repeatedly argued, is inseparable from the practice of Islam. [...]
Obasanjo has resisted demands to seek a Supreme Court resolution of the Shari'ah crisis in Nigeria on the grounds that it could lead to the polarisation of the country along religious lines. But if the Lawal case makes its way to the highest court, some analysts fear the outcome will be the same."

Document(s): 29/08/2002 - IRIN: Focus on Shari'ah sentence controversy

27.06.2002 - Source: BBC News

BBC: Man committed to death by stoning for adultery in Bauchi state ("Nigerian man faces death for adultery") [#7624],  [ID 14923]

Document(s): Open document

28.05.2002 - Source: Amnesty International

Death penalty still in force in Nigeria ("Annual report 2002") [#7180],  [ID 14903]

"After no death sentences in 2000, at least four death sentences were passed by High Courts and 24 were confirmed on appeal by the Supreme Court. Most followed convictions for murder and some dated back for more than a decade.
At least three death sentences were passed by lower courts under new penal legislation and codes, including new codes of criminal procedure, recently introduced in several states in northern Nigeria and based on Sharia.
The new laws introduced a mandatory death penalty for adultery not previously punishable by death and allowed the application of the death penalty for other sexual offences on a discretionary basis. In some states legislation initially made no requirement for defendants in capital cases to be legally represented in court. Although they are punishable offences, sexual intercourse between members of the same sex, child abuse and adultery do not attract the death penalty under the federal Penal Code for Northern Nigeria, which remains applicable to non-Muslims.
So-called Sharia courts, lower courts in the hierarchy of the Nigerian judicial system, were given jurisdiction to hand down death sentences, a power formerly reserved to the High Courts. Previously, the lower courts used Sharia legal concepts only to determine cases in civil and personal matters. It was unclear to what extent the new legislation guaranteed constitutional rights of appeal to the higher federal courts. Rules of evidence and procedure used in criminal matters in the Sharia courts differed from those applied in the Magistrates' Courts, and discriminated against women."

Document(s): Open document

28.05.2002 - Source: Amnesty International

AI: Death penalty imposed in three states in 2002 ("Annual report 2002") [#7180],  [ID 14924]

"Attahiru Umar, aged in his thirties, was sentenced to death by stoning in Kebbi State in September. He was convicted on charges of homosexuality in connection with the sexual abuse of a young boy. No appeal was known to have been made to a higher court. The sentence was not known to have been carried out by the end of 2001.
In October Safiya Yakubu Hussaini, aged 30, was sentenced to death by stoning in Sokoto State after being convicted of adultery, under a law which violates international standards of human rights. At her first trial she suffered discrimination on the grounds of her gender: she was convicted on the basis of inadequate evidence, including that she was pregnant while reportedly no longer married; however, the court did not investigate the child's paternity or her allegation that she had been raped by a married man. In November she was granted leave to appeal and subsequently appealed to the Sokoto State Sharia Court of Appeal. In December the Federal Minister of Justice publicly declared that she would not be executed. By the end of 2001 no decision had been given on her appeal.
Sani Yakubu Rodi was convicted of murder in Katsina in November and sentenced to death by hanging. He pleaded not guilty at an initial hearing in July but changed his plea to guilty in September. He did not lodge an appeal."

Document(s): Open document

03.12.2001 - Source: BBC News

Woman sentenced to be stoned to death despite saying she was raped ("Nigeria death sentence reprieve") [#4930],  [ID 14926]

Document(s): Open document

23.10.2001 - Source: Human Rights Watch

Gwadabawa, Sokoto State: Woman sentenced to death by Islamic court for having pre-marital sex ("Nigeria: Woman Sentenced to Death Under Sharia") [#4501],  [ID 14927]

Document(s): Open document