Activists seek replacement of death penalty with long-term imprisonment

Two non-governmental organisations (NGOs) that focus on judicial reforms have asked Nigerian authorities to replace the death penalty with long-term imprisonment.

The Legal Defence and Assistance Project (LEDAP) and Human Rights Law Service (HURILAWS) said this on Thursday, at a joint press conference in Lagos.

The event was organised to commemorate the World Day Against the Death Penalty, which is observed every October 10.

Speaking on the need to abolish the death penalty, Pamela Okoroigwe, programme manager of LEDAP, said Nigeria should focus on rehabilitating inmates.

“We need to talk about restorative justice and how to ensure that these persons (convicts) are rehabilitated. People are moving to restorative justice,” she said.

“How do we ensure that we provide some kind of compensation for the victims’ families? How do we ensure that there is peace? How do we ensure that in the long run, these inmates will be rehabilitated and then taken back to society?

“That is what everyone is talking about right now; nobody is talking about retributive justice any more. Pass an official moratorium or official ban on executions. During a moratorium, offenders can still be sentenced to death and held on death row, but no death warrants can be signed.

“State legislatures should abolish mandatory death sentence for all offences and replace the same with the term of years. Commute the death sentence to long-term imprisonment.”

On his part, Collins Okeke, the programme manager of HURILAWS, said instead of focusing on death penalty for offenders, compensation for victims’ families should be addressed.

“This stems from the belief that such a penalty will reduce the tide of crimes, and unfortunately, it has not,” he said.

“Another perception is the popular notion of ‘tit for tat’, but sadly, this is also not always the case as it is clear that it is not always for tit for tat, especially in our contemporary society.

“A basic question should be: How do we deal with victims of crime? Is there a way to make the person compensate the family? I think these are areas we must look into.

“We must take a holistic picture of these issues surrounding the death penalty, for it is not just a case of justice for the victim, but also justice to the society as well.”

In July, Aregbesola had called on governors to sign death warrants in order to decongest prisons.