DEATH PENALTY IN NIGERIA: A THORN IN OUR FLESH.
The Christian bible says "an eye for an eye", but it surely also asked for sinners to be forgiven. The death penalty has taken another turn in the lives of many in our country, Nigeria.
Therefore, this article seeks to explain the meaning of the death penalty, its origin, what the Nigerian law says about it, and the effective results it has yielded in the country, or not.
What is Death Penalty?
The death penalty, also called "Capital Punishment", is an execution of an offender, sentenced to death after conviction by a court of law of a criminal offense.
Capital crimes that go with this punishment include murder, terrorism-related offenses, rape, robbery, kidnapping, sodomy, homosexuality, blasphemy, adultery, incest, assisting the suicide of a person legally unable to consent, perjury in a capital case causing wrongful execution, treason.
The effect of this is that, where an accused has been found guilty of any of the above offenses especially those contained in the Criminal and Penal Code Act, the Judge's power to sentence is restricted. The only option open to the court is to impose death on the offender.
Methods of executing the death penalty may include hanging, shooting (firing squad), stoning, and lethal injection. Hanging and firing squads seem to be the most rampant.
Origin of Death sentence
The death penalty dates back to the 18th century B.C., in the Code of King Hammurabi of Babylon which codified the death penalty for 25 different crimes. At that time, death sentences were carried out by such means as crucifixion, drowning, beating or stoning to death, burning alive and impalement, but in the 10th century A.D, hanging became the usual method of execution in Britain.
A glance into the penal history shows that the death penalty has been a feature of Ancient legal systems. Under the Sharia which was applicable in full force in the Pre-colonial Northern region of Nigeria, the death penalty was also ascribed to some offenses such as intentional murder, rebellion, and armed robbery involving death, amongst others.
In the Holy Bible, the first divine pronouncement which seems to sanction the death penalty is found in Genesis 9:6; "Whoever sheds man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed, for in the image of God he made man".
Is Death Penalty legalized in Nigeria?
The death penalty is legal in Nigeria. It has been justified and authorized by Section 33 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria(as amended), which states:
"A person shall not be regarded as having been deprived of his life in contravention of subsection(1), if he dies as a result of the use, to such extent, and as such circumstances, as are permitted by law, of such force as is reasonably necessary".
In other words, Nigerian law recognizes the death penalty as a form of punishment, but only on the condition that it is according to the execution of the sentence of a court in a criminal offense, of which the accused has been found guilty.
In the words of ABIRU, J.C.A, " Once a Judge finds an accused person guilty of culpable homicide under Section 221 of the penal code, the only sentence he can pronounce is death".
A Judge has no jurisdiction to listen to any allocution, and no volition to reduce the death penalty to a term of years, once the accused person has been found guilty.
But there are exceptions.
"Where a defendant is found guilty of a capital offense and convicted. Where the defendant is a pregnant woman, she shall not be sentenced to death but sentenced to life imprisonment".
"A defendant who is found guilty of a capital offense and so convicted, but was at the time of the commission of the offense less than eighteen years old, cannot be sentenced to death, but to life imprisonment."
Several state laws have taken from the Constitution and followed this track thereby making similar laws to the death penalty law in the Nigerian Constitution. For instance, Section 297(2) of the Criminal Law(Ch. 17 vol.3 laws of Lagos State, 2015) states that:
"any person found guilty of the offense of armed robbery is convicted and sentenced to death".
Judicial Precedents on Death Penalty
In Onuoha Kalu V The state, which is no doubt Nigeria's locus classicus on the death penalty subject. The appellant had appealed that a death sentence that was imposed under Section 319(1) of the Criminal Code of Lagos State in South-West Nigeria, contravened Sections 33(1) and 34(1) of the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria(as amended) which guarantees the rights to life and human dignity.
The outcome of the judgment, however, was hardly what the appellant wanted. Having applied its mind to relevant Constitutional and relative jurisprudence, the Supreme Court of Nigeria concluded that the penalty violated neither the right to life nor human dignity as Nigerian Constitution allowed the penalty.
Although the decision became a locus classicus, it hardly puts the matter to rest as it was meant to. The Supreme Court's failure, however, to recognize and weigh the likely consequences of textual differences makes the case of Onuoha Kalu V The state a poor precedent for the controversies arising against the death penalty.
In Adeniji V State, the court that the death penalty as regards Section 33(1) of the constitution is expressly recognized by the said constitution.
Also, in Okoro v. State, the Supreme Court stated that the death penalty and its method of execution are lawful and valid as it is sanctioned by both Section 33(1) and 34(1)(a) of the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria (as amended).
Has Death Penalty adherence in Nigeria so far yielded effective results?
The application of the Death penalty in Nigeria is a disputed issue today. Over the years, cases abound of the use of the death penalty.
In 2013, four prisoners on death row were hanged. In 2014, after being found guilty of conspiracy to commit mutiny, 54 soldiers were sentenced to death by firing squad. In 2016, three men were hanged for murder and armed robbery.
In 2017, the Nigerian Government rejected the call by Amnesty International to halt the planned execution of some inmates in Lagos State and proceeded to execute so many of them.
In May 2020, during the Corona Virus Pandemic, a court in Lagos used a video conferencing application to issue a death sentence.
As of 2017, Nigeria has imposed 621 death sentences, which is the highest globally. But funny enough, this capital punishment has not stopped crime. Every day comes with news of the deeds of these criminals. Is Death Penalty still necessary if it hasn't achieved its aim of a crime-free society just yet?
In light of these controversies, a writer has argued that the Death Penalty has been regarded as a retributive, deterrence, and recidivism tool.
Retribution arguments maintain that certain offenders must be killed, not just to prevent crime but because of the demands of justice.
The deterrence principle argues that it is necessary to kill an offender to dissuade others from committing the same kind of crime.
The recidivism principle maintains that if an offender is killed for committing a capital offense today, he would definitely be unable to commit the same offense tomorrow.
In as much as the above justifications may appear true, the fact is that the death penalty is not necessary to achieve the benefit of protecting the public from murderers who may strike again. Locking murderers away for life achieved the same goal without requiring us to take yet another life.
The death penalty is not necessary to ensure that criminals get "what they deserve". Justice itself does not even require us to punish murder by death. It only requires that the gravest crimes receive the severest punishment that our moral precepts would allow us to impose.
Death penalty most importantly renders the importance of life useless. Many of those sentenced to death could be rehabilitated to live socially productive lives. Juries have been known to make mistakes, inflicting the death penalty on innocent people.
Had such innocent parties been allowed to live, the wrong done to them might have been corrected and their lives not wasted. What happens when the mistake is discovered after a life has been taken away for a crime he is innocent of? Do we erect a remorseful monument over his grave?
Going back to history, Ken Saro Wiwa, the man that was accused falsely by the Abacha-led Military Administration of killing some Ogoni Chiefs and treason, was tried by the Supreme Military Council, sentenced to death by hanging for a crime that we all know was not worth it. If this death sentence was not recognized by the country, probably the writer could have been alive till the issues were settled.
Not to be left out, the execution of the death penalty sometimes involves medical doctors, who have sworn to preserve life. They invoke themselves in this act of killing ie. execution by lethal injection. And also confirming the death status of the offender in other cases, thereby assisting the executioner indirectly.
Death Penalty has done more harm than good to the nation. It is our honest opinion that rather than keep these criminals on death row waiting for a hangman, a good measure in addressing these Constitutional violations would be to freeze executions by a judicial injunction until the mandatory death penalty laws have been reviewed.
Conclusion
This article has looked through the meaning of the death penalty, its origin, what judicial precedents have to say about it, and its applications in Nigeria.
It has been established in this article that the Death penalty law in Nigeria conflicts with some principles of the Constitution. Also, the increase in death sentences raises pertinent concerns.
Thus, it would do us a huge good if the death penalty law is reviewed and changed in Nigeria, especially Section 33(2) which seems to be the backbone of the Death sentence in Nigeria. This is because this penalty has caused more harm than good to Nigeria as a country and its citizens.
Undoubtedly, if we fold our arms and do nothing, thereby letting this penalty continue, we would all be dead before we know it. If we do not hurry and pull the thorns away from our flesh, we'll get scars that would remain there forever.
References
-www.ia-forum.org/content/viewinternalDocument.cfm?contenttype-id
-https://anllegalandstyle.com/2017/arguments-abolishment-death-sentence-nigeria-juxtaposition
-1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended)
-Nigerian Criminal Code Act
-www.scu.edu/mcae/publications/iie/v1n3/capital.html
-https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/capital-punishment-in-Nigeria
-www.vanguardngr.com/2021/08/death-sentence-remains-part-of-criminal-justice-system
--www.britinnica.com/topic/capital-punishment(Roger Hood)
-www.scielo.org.za/scielo.php? script=sci
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