Tag Archives: Death Row

Drug Offences: 81 More On Death Row In Malaysia, 15 In Indonesia

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No fewer than 81 more Nigerians in Malaysia and 15 in Indonesia are awaiting execution after they had been convicted on drug related offences in the two countries just as one Chijioke Stephen Obioha was executed in Singapore yesterday.

Drug offences in those countries carry the death penalty.

It was reliably learnt from sources in the Malaysian Embassy that the Malaysia government had repeatedly complained to the Drug Law Enforcement Agency of Nigeria of what had become almost an epidemic proportion of Nigerians who traffic in the deadly cargo but all appear to have fallen on deaf ears as the number of arrests had been on a steady increase.

Last week, Indonesia executed another Nigerian without fanfare as was contained in notes exchanged when Nigeria’s drug law agency officials visited Indonesia recently.

Obioha’s execution was inspite of global cries and appeals which followed the failure of his appeal to their apex court after conviction. The apex court threw out his final appeal.

Malaysia complained that the new tactics that the Nigerians were using to traffic and vend hard drugs was through chat groups on social media.

Read More: thisdaylive

Indonesia To Execute 30 Convicts In 2017

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Bambang Waluyo, Indonesian Deputy Attorney General, has said government planned to execute 30 death-row convicts in 2017.
He disclosed this on Monday in Jakarta during a parliamentary hearing.
Waluyo said that this year, his office is preparing to execute 18 convicts, after July 6, the Eid al-Fitr Muslim holiday, which ends of the holy month of Ramadan.
Meanwhile, the Justice Ministry said not less than 121 people are currently on death row in Indonesia, including 35 foreigners, mostly convicted of drug-related crimes.
It explained that they include; Mary Jane Veloso from the Philippines, Lindsay Sandiford from Britain and Frenchman Serge Atlaoui.
The ministry recalled that in 2015 Indonesia executed 14 convicts, all but two of them foreigners, in a move that drew international condemnation.
Under Indonesian law, each convict would face a squad of 10 gunmen.
Indonesian President Joko Widodo, who took office in 2014, has taken a tough stance against drug trafficking, saying that the country is facing a drug emergency.

 

(dpa/NAN)

153 Nigerians On Death Row In Malaysia, China Over Drugs

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Senate yesterday raised the alarm that about 153 Nigerians are currently awaiting execution in Malaysia and China, following their involvement in illicit drugs. The lawmakers also revealed that four out of 11 Nigerians on death row were executed in April 2015 by Indonesian authorities despite pleas for leniency by Nigeria, the United Nations and Amnesty International. This was as the senaNigerians were executed in China also in April last year, even as 120 others are still on death row for drug-related offences, with 74 of them being held in Guandong and Guanxi provinces. The lawmakers said in Singapore, one Nigerian is awaiting the hangman’s noose because of his participation in drug offence. These revelations came to light yesterday during a debate on a motion sponsored by Senator Gbenga Ashafa and supported by 21 others.

The senators consequently urged the Federal Government to restructure and reposition the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, to be able to meet the challenges of evasive drug traffickers who use Nigerians to traffic the illicit products. The lawmakers also asked the police, NDLEA, NAFDAC, Pharmaceutical Council of Nigeria, PCN, and other regulatory agencies to develop a collaborative approach towards curbing the incidence of drug use and abuse in the country. They, in addition, mandated the Committee on Drugs and Narcotics to urgently consider the amendment of Section 23 of the PCN Act, to include the sale of prescription pills over the counter as an offence punishable by the Act. In his lead presentation, Ashafa disclosed that many Nigerian youths’ involvement in illicit global drugs trade had led them to be currently on death row in different countries. According to him, drug offences in some countries attract capital punishment. Ashafa expressed concerns that in spite of the execution, some desperate Nigerians were still not deterred. He said: “The case for leniency was rendered impotent because, at that point, seven fresh cases of drug trafficking involving Nigerians had just emerged in Indonesia.”

He stated that these desperate Nigerians used to disguise as university students colluding with drug syndicates to undermine the visa system and gain entrance into Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and other drug traffic routes. According to him, 30 out of 80 foreign students arrested in 2015 were Nigerians in Malaysia where authorities have confirmed that 40 per cent of foreigners arrested for drug offences are from Nigeria. Senator Ashafa regretted that Nigerians’ involvement in drug business is tarnishing the image of the country. “Our nationals are viewed with suspicion and subjected to demeaning treatment at airports across the world as a result of this negative perception.” The lawmaker chided the Federal Government for not taking serious actions to curb the menace of drug couriers and their sponsors within and outside the country. In their contributions, Senators Sam Anyanwu, Oluremi Tinubu, Barau Jibrin and Ovie Omo- Agege also condemned the rate at which Nigerian youths are involved in drug-related offences.

Credit: NationalMirror

Death Row Soldiers Sue Army For Contempt

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Soldiers in the Nigerian Army who were recently sentenced to death by a military court martial have initiated contempt proceedings against the Chief of Army Staff over non-release of the record of proceedings that convicted and sentenced them to death.

This is just as the army, in a statement by its acting director of public relations, Col. Sani Kukasheka Usman, confirmed reports that the it had commenced an administrative procedure to review some recent disciplinary cases but dismissed insinuations that the review amounted to a recall of dismissed and deserter soldiers.

“The attention of the Nigerian Army has been drawn to a correspondence making the rounds in some media regarding an administrative procedure to review some recent disciplinary cases in the Nigerian Army.

“For the avoidance of doubt, it should be noted that the Nigerian Army is reviewing all recent disciplinary cases due to the wave of litigations and petitions by some aggrieved personnel. The public should not misconstrue the recent directive to mean total recall of dismissed and deserter soldiers,” the terse statement read.

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