NIGERIA: GOVERNORS BACK EXECUTION OF CONVICTED PRISONERS

June 15, 2010: The Nigerian government decided to resume the execution of prison inmates to ease prison congestion.
The decision to execute death row inmates was taken at a meeting of the National Economic Council (NEC). The meeting was chaired by the Vice President of Nigeria and attended by Nigeria's 36 state governors. Following the meeting, the Governor of Benue state announced that the Council had asked the Nigerian state governors to review all cases of death row inmates and to sign execution warrants as a means of decongesting the country's prisons. This is the second time in two months that Nigeria's state governors have considered the execution of inmates to ease prison congestion. In April 2010, a similar decision was taken in a meeting of the Council of State, a meeting of the 36 state governors, chaired by the President of Nigeria. (Sources: Human Rights Watch, 25/06/2010)