NIGERIA: DELTA STATE GOVERNOR FREES THREE ON DEATH ROW

October 1, 2014: Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan of Delta State granted pardon to three men awaiting execution to mark Nigeria’s 54th Independence anniversary celebrations.
The governor also commuted the death sentences of nine others to various terms of imprisonment.
Speaking at a special ceremony in Asaba, the state capital, Uduaghan said the pardon granted the prisoners was based on recommendations from the State Advisory Council on the Prerogative of Mercy.
“As part of the Independence Day celebration, through the power conferred on me under section 212 of the Nigerian Constitution and based on the recommendation from the State Advisory Council of the Prerogative of Mercy, I have granted total pardon to three prisoners sentenced to death and granted amnesty to nine other prisoners on death row whose sentences have now been commuted to various terms of imprisonment,” the governor said. (Sources: punchng.com, 02/10/2014)