Tag Archives: Execute

Edo Government to execute death row prisoners.

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Barely one month after he was sworn in as the governor of Edo State, Godwin Obaseki has announced his intention to execute three death row prisoners at Oko Prisons in Benin City, PREMIUM TIMES has learnt.

The convicts had been sentenced to death by military tribunals under the Robbery and Firearms (Special Provisions) Decree 1971 as amended, in which there is no right of appeal.

The prisoners are to be executed today (Friday), according to the Legal Defence and Assistance Project, a non-governmental organisation working to protect and promote human rights and the rule of law in Nigeria.

Chino Obiagwu, LEDAP’s director, in a petition to Mr. Obaseki, urged the governor to halt the planned execution.

“These earmarked prisoners were sentenced by military tribunals under the Robbery and Firearms (Special Provisions) Decree 1971 as amended, in which there was no right of appeal. We have filed an appeal pending at the Court of Lagos seeking order that these prisoners have right of appeal under the 1999 Constitution,” Mr. Obiagwu, a lawyer, stated in the petition dated December 23rd.

The group urged the governor not to start his regime with execution of prisoners “who have insisted on their innocence and have not exhausted appeal processes”.

Mr. Obaseki was sworn-in as the governor of Edo State last month, replacing Adams Oshiomhole who had governed for eight years.

PREMIUM TIMES could not confirm if Mr. Obaseki or his predecessor signed for the execution of the inmates.

When contacted, John Mayaki, the interim Chief Press Secretary to Mr. Obaseki, said he was not aware of the petition.

“I need to see the petition before I can respond,” Mr. Mayaki told PREMIUM TIMES.

In 2013, four prisoners on death row were hanged by officers of the Nigeria Prison Service in Edo State, with Mr. Oshiomhole signing the death warrant for two of them, according to Henry Idahagbon, then Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice in the state.

It was the first known execution in Nigeria since 2006, according to Amnesty International.

The prisoners – Chima Ejiofor, Daniel Nsofor, Osarenmwinda Aigbonkhan, and Richard Igagu – were convicted of murder, armed robbery, and rape. They had instituted a suit before a federal court contending that executing them after 16 years of trauma and imminent death was inhuman and degrading and asked that their death sentences be commuted to terms of imprisonment.

“These people were convicted 15 years ago,” Mr. Idahagbon had said following a widespread condemnation that greeted the hanging of the inmates.

“I was only informed of this (last night) by the prison authorities that they had been hanged. One of them was convicted in Kaduna, while their matters had gone up to the Supreme Court and came back to the Federal High Court, Benin.

“It really has nothing to do with us a government. The governor only signed the death sentence of two, while previous governors signed that of two others.”

Indonesia To Execute Nigerian, Other Drug Convicts This Week

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A group of drug convicts including foreigners will face the firing squad in Indonesia this week after authorities Tuesday gave notice of their executions, a diplomat said, despite protests from governments and rights groups.

Syed Zahid Raza, the deputy Pakistani ambassador in Jakarta, told AFP the convicts, who include a Pakistani, could be executed around midnight Friday after officials signalled the start of a 72-hour notice period at a meeting with diplomats.

Nationals from Pakistan, India, Nigeria and Zimbabwe are expected to be executed alongside Indonesians. Officials say no Europeans or Australians will be included in the third round of executions under President Joko Widodo.

Indonesia sparked international outrage with its last batch of executions in April 2015 when it put to death seven foreigners, including two Australians. But Widodo has insisted Jakarta is fighting a war against drugs and traffickers must be harshly punished.

Pakistan has so far publicly voiced the most concern about the upcoming executions, and its foreign ministry Tuesday summoned the Indonesian ambassador to Islamabad to convey their concerns about the case of their national, 52-year-old Zulfiqar Ali.

Activists say that Ali, sentenced to death in 2005 for heroin possession, was beaten and tortured into confessing and did not receive a fair trial. Rights groups have also called on Indonesia to halt the planned executions, citing worries about irregularities with some convictions.

Credit: Vanguard

We Will Execute Any Pilgrim Caught With Drugs, Saudi Govt Writes To Hajj Commission

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The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has written a strongly worded letter to the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria, NAHCON, on the need to educate its pilgrims on why they should not be caught with hard drugs in the Holy Land, warning that any pilgrim caught would be executed.

The chairman of NAHCON, Alhaji Abdullahi Muktar Muhammed, at a press conference in Abuja yesterday said that the Saudi authorities are serious in achieving a drug free hajj pointing out that no amount of international pressure would made them spare the life of any convicted drug peddler.

Muhammed, in company of four of his national commissioners said the commission has made the stand of the Saudi authorities known to the pilgrims adding that out of over 27,000 pilgrims that have been airlifted to the Holy Land, not a single case of drug trafficking has been recorded among the pilgrims.

“We all know the stand of the Saudi government when it comes to drug trafficking, in fact they wrote a strongly worded letter to us on their stand insisting no amount of international pressure will make them spare the life of any convicted drug trafficker caught.”

Credit: leadership

Why We Executed Nigerians, Others- Indonesia

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Indonesia on Wednesday resolutely defended its execution of seven foreigners including four Nigerians and two Australians, saying it was a defining moment on its clear position against drugs.

It would be recalled that following the execution, Australia withdrew its ambassador in protest against Indonesia’s decision, but while responding to global outcry over the country’s action, Indonesian President, Joko Widodo said he was only applying “the rule of law” against narcotics traffickers. The seven convicts believed to be two Australians, one Brazilian and four Nigerians were shot by firing squad along with one Indonesian, despite appeals from their home countries.

Read More: dailypost

ISIS Executes Japanese Hostage, Demands Exchange of Prisoner with Other Captive

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The Islamic State group said Sunday it executed one of two Japanese hostages it has been holding, in an apparent beheading branded “outrageous and unforgivable” by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

The claim comes a day after the release of a video announcing the murder of security contractor Haruna Yukawa by the jihadist group which has beheaded five Western hostages since August last year.

It sought to raise the pressure on Japan by saying the fate of the other captive, freelance journalist Kenji Goto, depended on the release of an Iraqi would-be female bomber who is on death row in Jordan. “The Islamic State has carried out its threat… it has executed Japanese hostage Haruna Yukawa after the expiry of the deadline given,” the jihadist group said on its Al-Bayan radio.

“The second hostage is calling on his relatives to put pressure on the (Japanese) government for the release of our sister Sajida al-Rishawi, held in the jails of the oppressors in Jordan, in exchange for his release.”

Rishawi was sentenced to death by a Jordanian court in September 2006 in connection with triple hotel bomb attacks in Amman the previous year that killed 60 people. Her name emerged Saturday in an IS video that showed Goto holding what appears to be a photograph of Yukawa’s slain body.

The video came with an audio recording in which a man claiming to be Goto says Yukawa was killed because Japan had failed to pay a $200 million ransom within a 72-hour deadline announced Tuesday. The video unleashed a tide of global revulsion while Yukawa’s father voiced horror and shock. “I thought ‘Ah, this finally happened’ and was filled with regret,” said Shoichi Yukawa.

“I went totally blank, I was only sorry… I had no words,” he said. “In my mind I wish very much that this wasn’t true.”

Abe branded the murder of Yukawa as “outrageous and unforgivable” and called for Goto’s immediate release. “I condemn it strongly and resolutely,” said the Japanese leader.

Credit: Yahoo News

ISIL Executes Iraqi Female Parliament Candidates

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ISIS militants have executed two female parliamentary candidates in the Iraqi city of Mosul under their control. The two former candidates for the Iraqi parliament were killed in the Faisalya area of central Mosul on Tuesday, said a top Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) official in the area.

“ISIS gunmen executed two former female candidates in Mosul after the (so-called) Sharia court issued death sentences on them,” said Saad Mamuzin, the head of the KDP’s Mosul branch. “One of the candidates was Ibtisam Ali Jarjis on the Watanya list, and the second one was Miran Ghazi a candidate for the Arab list,” he noted.

Three months ago, the two women had repented in a mosque captured by ISIS in order to survive an execution yet the Takfiris overruled their repentance and arrested them about three weeks ago, he added.

Credit: Press TV

Terrorists Execute Over 28 Non- Muslims in Kenya Commercial Bus

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Suspected members of the Somali militant group al-Shabab have killed at least 28 people in an attack on a bus in northern Kenya, officials say.

After stopping the bus, attackers separated out those they thought were non-Muslim before killing them, they said.

The bus was travelling to the capital, Nairobi, when it was stopped in Mandera county, near the Somali border.

After the attack early on Saturday, local officials quoted by Kenyan media said the government had failed to answer their pleas for extra security.

One official told Kenya’s Daily Nation newspaper that assailants had asked passengers to read out verses of the Koran, before executing those who failed.

Credit: BBC