The number of condemned criminals in Nigeria’s correctional centres is piling to historical highs as most face institutional and financial obstacles challenging their convictions and or sentences in higher courts, which, according to an investigation by LEADERSHIP Sunday, is primarily due to a broken justice system and lack of political will by state governors to implement laws of the land.

Many condemned inmates lack the resources to challenge their sentences and are confronted with the challenge of getting the courts to hear their appeals. When they do, judges, prosecutors and even their legal representatives fail to appear in court, and new dates could be years apart.

Sixteen persons have been convicted and sentenced to death in Ekiti State in the past year.

Between June 2023 and December 2023, the death sentences of four persons were reported.

Within January 2024 and June 2024, the death sentences of 12 persons were reported.

Findings by LEADERSHIP Sunday showed that not a single governor of the state has signed a death warrant for condemned criminals since it was created in 1996.

It is a similar story in Rivers State, where a total of eight persons were sentenced to death within the past year.

No fewer than 45 convicted individuals have been sentenced to death in close to a dozen states in the last year alone; but most state governments don’t keep proper records of the various categories of inmates in their prisons.

In some cases, even the commissioner for justice in the state is unaware of the number of condemned prisoners in their cases and those with pending appeals.

Our correspondents report that some states pay scant attention to the legal processes in the criminal justice system and are totally reliant on information from the Nigeria Correctional Service at the state level.

Speaking on the issue, the attorney-general and commissioner for justice in Anambra state, Professor Sylvia Ogene, said there might have been more people sentenced to death in courts across the state within the past year, but she could confirm only one such conviction handed down by Justice Okuma of the High Court of Ishiala Judicial Division a few weeks ago while she was in the court.

The attorney general, however, said she was not aware if the state governor, Professor Chukwuma Soludo, had signed any death warrant since he became governor more than two years ago. She promised to find out and inform our reporter, but at  the time of filing this report, she had not gotten back.

Legal experts who spoke with LEADERSHIP Sunday could, however, not explain the rationale behind the moratorium on executions being observed by the states.

A human rights lawyer, Emeka Aneke, said although Nigeria had adopted an unofficial moratorium on execution of condemned convicts, the death penalty is still a valid punishment for capital offences in Nigeria in line with the 1999 Constitution.

Aneke said various civil society groups promoted the self-imposed moratorium on executions in the country because of the severe problems in the administration of the criminal justice system and the brutal nature of the punishment.

He explained, “Executions can only occur after a convict has filed an appeal and exhaustive legal and judicial processes, including recourse to the Supreme Court of the land.

“The law is settled on the principle that it is better to set a hundred criminals free than to convict and kill one innocent person wrongfully, and it would be unjust to retain the death penalty in the face of many imperfections in the Nigerian criminal justice administration.”

In Plateau State, one of the few states where the state government is trying to hide the fact that there are people in prison and some condemned to death for crimes against society, the state governor, Caleb Mutfwang, has taken action, but in carrying out court sentences, instead, commuting the death sentences of three inmates to life imprisonment.

Mutfwang, exercising powers conferred by the Nigerian Constitution, commuted the death sentences of the three inmates to life imprisonment to mark 25 years of uninterrupted democracy in Nigeria.

Since taking office in October 2022, Governor Biodun Oyebanji of Ekiti State has not signed any death warrant.

Since the past year, four convicted prisoners have been awaiting Akwa Ibom Governor Umo Eno’s assent on the prison warrants for them to be handed over to the hangman for execution, checks by LEADERSHIP Weekend have revealed.

Those sentenced to death, it was gathered, were found guilty and condemned to die by hanging for grievous offences of murder, kidnapping, armed robbery and other violent crimes.

LEADERSHIP Sunday was asked to write an official letter demanding the information. Still, the public relations officer, Mr Richard, explained that it would take some time for the response to be elicited from the four prison formations in Uyo, Eket, Ikot Ekpene and Ikot Abasi local government areas. However, a senior official of the Uyo Medium Corrections Centre who spoke on condition of anonymity said four convicted prisoners were awaiting execution in the state.

The commissioner for justice, Mr Uko Udom (SAN), said he was not in a better position to speak on why Governor Umo Eno and other previous governors in the state, since the return of democracy in 1999, failed to sign death warrants for the execution of condemned prisoners.

However, a source close to the governor said, “Some governors are bound by their conscience and would rather prefer condemned criminals remain in perpetuity in prison rather than their hands to be tainted with human blood.”

Besides, he noted that governors are bound by international human rights laws and conventions Nigeria signed with respective affiliate bodies to the United Nations, adding that open execution of such criminals could attract outrage and petitions concerning human rights abuse by the government.

Another Lagos-based lawyer, Idowu Phillips, said he does not support the use of the death penalty as a form of punishment in Nigeria because most times, it is the poor and the most vulnerable members of society that are subjected to the sentence.

Phillips said that although he did not support crimes and criminality, the justice sector needs to be reformed for better delivery.

He said, “From my experience as a lawyer and a rights advocate, I have discovered that many convicts are not informed of their rights, do not have legal representation or money for an appeal and thus never file one. Also, several inmates were sentenced to death based on confessions obtained through torture.

“I will recommend that state governors should continue to observe the moratorium on the death penalty until our justice system can guarantee fast, avoidable and equal justice for all.”

There are other lawyers who, however, have stronger views on the issue of capital punishment, pointing to the nature of the crimes committed by many of the condemned inmates.

A case in point from a Delta State High Court sitting in Asaba and presided over by Honourable Justice C. D. Diai is the conviction and sentencing of one Inspector Ubi Ebri of the Nigeria Police force to death on a murder charge.

He is one of three inmates awaiting execution in the state. A Delta High Court sitting in Effurun, Uvwie local government area presided over by Justice E. I. Oritsejafor, also convicted and sentenced two men, Emmanuel Ruekpe and Peter Okoro, to death by hanging for armed robbery after finding them guilty of a two-count charge of conspiracy and armed robbery.

Also, in Rivers State, a total of eight persons were sentenced to death within the past year.

While three were sentenced to death in January 2024 for kidnapping and murder, five, including two brothers, were sentenced to death in March 2024 for killing a vigilante commander.

Mustafa Adedoyin, another lawyer, maintained that anyone who has willfully killed, especially terrorists, simply deserves not to live.

He insisted that applying the death penalty to such people would completely foreclose the possibility of them wreaking more havoc on society if they are pardoned and released.

Adedoyin said, “We cannot continue to hide behind the excuse that our justice system is imperfect because there is no perfect system anywhere. We should trust what we have now and keep improving. That is the way society develops.

“The governors should know that it is part of their job to sign death warrants. It is a requirement of the law, so they should drop all sentiments and do the needful. Where a convict does not have a lawyer, the state should provide legal representation to follow up on his case.

“Keeping condemned criminals in prison constitutes a drain on the public purse. These condemned criminals are people who have been written off as those who cannot meaningfully contribute to the advancement of society.”

Instances of courts convicting and sentencing criminals to death continue to increase on a yearly basis though none is ever executed.

In Benue State, the total number of inmates across the correctional centres is 706.  The comptroller of Nigerian Correctional Service in Benue State, Mary Oche, Who disclosed this in a telephone conversation with our correspondent, explained that out of the 706, 15 are on death row.

Three people have also been sentenced to death by hanging in Osun State in the past year and are currently in Correctional Service custody.

The state governor, Senator Ademola Adeleke, has not signed any death warrant since he assumed office in November 2022, and no reason was adduced for it.