Miracle! Man freed after 19 years on death row

ThankGod Ebhos is perhaps the luckiest person alive, as he walked into freedom a few moments before he was to be executed.

After being accused of involvement in an armed robbery incident, which took place in 1988, a military tribunal in Kaduna had tried and sentenced him to death in May 1995.

He languished in detention until September 24, 2013, when he was taken to the gallows of Benin prison where he watched four men being hanged.

However, when it was his turn to be hanged, Mukhtar Yero, governor of Kaduna state, interceded on his behalf.

Commenting on the situation, Amnesty International faulted the manner in which the lives of the four others were terminated, raising questions about the fairness of military tribunals in Nigeria at that time.

The human rights body further described their death as a travesty of justice because those executed had pending cases regarding the matter in court.

“ThankGod’s long ordeal shows that the death penalty has no place in the 21st century,” said Netsanet Belay, Amnesty International’s Africa director, research and advocacy.

“The release of ThankGod Ebhos brings great hope to the many hundreds who are languishing on death row across Nigeria.

“Nigeria must build on the positive step taken today, immediately halt plans to carry out any more executions and move towards abolishing the death penalty once and for all. Killing inmates is not an effective way to deal with crime.”

Not having full belief in the Nigerian system, Amnesty International petitioned the Economic Community Of West African States (ECOWAS) court and obtained an injunction restraining the government from executing Thankgod.

“The release of Thankgod in the aftermath of the decision of the ECOWAS Court on June 2014 shows the impact such a ruling can have on the desperate situation of an inmate on death row for more than 19 years and encourages litigation of such critical cases before regional courts,” said Jean-Sebastien Mariez, attorney at Avocats Sans Frontières France.

Amnesty International condemned death penalty in its totality, calling on Nigeria to abolish it.