Nigeria
begins death penalty debate
Lagos
- The Nigerian Government has begun a
national debate on whether or not the death penalty should be abolished.
The
debate will be taken to all parts of the country to allow interested
individuals and groups to give their views on the issue.
Opinions
collated during the debate will form the government's position on whether or
not to abolish the death penalty.
Nigeria's
attorney general and Justice Minister Akin Olujimi has initiated the
national debate to see how Nigerians feel about the issue.
"It
is part of my reform agenda to excite a national debate on this issue to see
whether it is possible we can agree on a common approach to this matter,"
he said.
"We
will take the debate around, it would not just be in Lagos alone... so that
we can take the views of everybody."
Contrary
positions
The
first in the series of national debates on the issue took place in the
commercial capital Lagos.
Several
interest groups presented conflicting positions on the issue.
The
Nigerian prisons service gave its position on the issue by citing the old
adage that those who kill by the sword should die by the sword.
But
human rights groups hold a contrary position.
Chuma
Ubani is head of the Civil Liberties Organization, Nigeria's largest human
rights group.
"No
form of punishment can be more inhuman; can be more unusual than the death
penalty," he said.
"One
of the arguments we have against the death penalty is that once the
punishment is inflicted it is final and, if it is found that it was done in
error, there can be no remedy."
Muslim
anger
Reactions
from a cross-section of Nigerians show how sharply divided the country is on
the issue.
"The
death penalty is good for people who have killed because it will serve as
deterrent to other people," one person said.
But
another disagreed.
"I
am opposed to death penalty. I think it should be removed from our statues
books because it does not actually deter [as shown in] findings, from
statistics," another Nigerian said.
Nigerians
are so divided over the death penalty issue that anger has been expressed in
some quarters.
Some
angry Muslims say the government intends to abolish the death penalty to
prevent them from fully implementing Islamic law.
Islamic,
or Sharia law - which is practised in northern Nigeria - allows for the
death penalty.
Considering
views
Justice
Minister Akin Olujimi agrees that, given the divergent views Nigerians hold,
the death penalty issue is a sensitive matter.
However
he says all views will be taken into consideration before a decision is
taken on the matter.
"Even
if you have a strong opposition to abolition of death penalty, the only
thing we expect you to do is to come forward and press your views," he
said.
"We
will listen to you, we will consider it. It is not as if anybody is going to
take a decision without considering the views of the majority of Nigerians."
For
now, the national debate continues.
At
present, 487 people are awaiting execution in Nigerian prisons.
If
they knew about the debate at all, they would surely be anxious about its
outcome.
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