Death Penalty: Matters Arising

With the restoration of democratic governance in 1999, Nigerians expected so much from the government. At least, the problem of prison congestion caused by the high number of inmates awaiting trial, plus the increasing number of condemned criminals should have gone for good.

Recently, the Minister of Interior, Abba Moro said the nation’s prisons held about 42,000 inmates out of whom 34,000 were awaiting trial. Sadly, he gave no plans at decongesting the prisons.

As if these were not enough food for thought for officials concerned, the Deputy Controller of Prisons Service, Mr Uche Nwobi recently noted that the Port Harcourt Prison that was meant to hold 804 inmates now holds 3,000 out of which a staggering 243 are condemned prisoners.

We are disturbed that the authorities have left the state of affairs in the prison to degenerate to this level. That the prison is overflowing with inmates is bad enough, but for more suspects to be thrown in without conviction is unacceptable.

To compound this with the failure to remove condemned prisoners is sad.

We cannot understand why people sentenced to death cannot be given their due. Apart from the suggestion that it could be interpreted as selective application of justice, the attempt to break the prisons cannot end, and the reasons are obvious.

If it is true that the Chief Executives of the States will not sign the death warrants, they may be breaching aspects of their oath of office and this is unfortunate. A situation where petty thieves rot in jails and serial killers get executive treatment in jail should be looked at again.

Since the death warrants will not be signed, ostensibly because of the religious inclination of the Chief Executives, the country can take steps to remove from the laws of the country the death penalty. Until that is done, the nation fails, deliberately, to honour the laws that should govern our conduct.

While we refuse to accept suggestions that the issue might be as a result of lack of political will or lack of courage on the part of the executives, the silence on the fate of condemned people inflicts a perpetual mental agony on the people. Apart from not being part of the sentence, it is inhuman. It also wastes public resources on them.

If Nigeria decides to drop the death penalty, it would only be following some other civilized countries, whose disgust for bloodshed has assumed national acceptance. Indeed, Nigeria should also embrace it but it must also be prepared to reform its judicial system in line with international standard.

The Tide does not take any joy in the death of any Nigerian, especially the number of condemned people all over the country that may be running into thousands, but the country has put it in its laws and judges have found them culpable and decided that they should no longer be allowed to live among normal people.

On the whole, the situation makes a mockery of our judiciary system and makes our country a laughing stock for always writing one thing in our constitution and lacking the discipline and commitment to apply it. The time to say a  thing and to do the same must begin now.

The impression this situation leaves on the minds of ordinary Nigerians can hardly be imagined. In fact, for litigants and the criminally minded, the conflict can never be reconciled as the whole cost of litigation and time spent can just go to waste.

Clearly, unless something is done and quickly too, those who commit offences that carry death sentences can as well be overlooked. This will finally bring to bear the return of jungle justice, where anyone could feel justified to avenge the killing of a family member.