Human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, has
appealed to the Governor of Lagos State,
Akinwunmi Ambode, not to order the
execution of condemned persons that have
been sentenced to death in the state.
The Lagos State Attorney General and
Commissioner for Justice, Adeniji Kazeem,
at a press conference in Lagos on Tuesday
April 28th, disclosed that Ambode would
soon sign the death warrants of the
condemned inmates in the state.
Accoding to Kazeem, his he visited the
Lagos state prisons recently and discovered
that those on death row were acting as
though they had certain rights which
excluded them from being executed. He
revealed that the prison officials complained
about this attitude of theirs and called on
the Government to act and remedy the
situation.
“Lots of people are on death row,
Rev. King is not the only one on
death row, it is on the instruction of
Ambode that I visited the prisons
recently and I discuss the issue with
the prison officials and they
expressed concern. We are moving in
that direction of signing. The prison
officials said we need to look at that
seriously. Those on death row are
beginning to think they have some
rights. We are going to move in that
direction, you will hear from me, but I
will not tell you the exact date,”
Kazeem said
In a letter sent addressed to the state
governor, Akinwunmi Ambode, Falana
insisted that death by hanging or firing
squad violates the rights to freedom from
torture. Citing a judgement of the State High
Court sometime ago, Falana said
“The Lagos State High Court held
that while a person who commits
murder may be sentenced to death, it
is illegal and unconstitutional to
execute such death sentence by
hanging or firing squad, as it will lead
to the violation of his fundamental
right to freedom from torture
guaranteed by the constitution”.
He called on Governor Ambode not to sign
a death warrant authorising the killing of
any condemned prisoner but should rather d
commute the death sentences to life
imprisonment.
“On the basis of the valid and
subsisting judgment of the Lagos
High Court on the illegality of the
execution of the death penalty in
Lagos State, we urge Your Excellency
not to sign a death warrant
authorising the killing of any
condemned prisoner either by
hanging, firing squad or any other
means whatsoever. In the
circumstance, Your Excellency may
wish to commute the death sentences
of all condemned prisoners in Lagos
State to life imprisonment
forthwith”his letter read

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By Kisha

Henry Treasure Generally Addressed As Kisha is a Young Nigerian Entrepreneur, Humanist, Content Creator, Blogger & CEO of WWW.AMIBOISLAND.COM As Much as i love my simplicity, i also Eat & Dine With Controversy. My personality Is Quite a Unique One, Isn't it? Lol!

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