Why convicted terrorists will not get death penalty

dimeji akinloye

April 7, 2016 4:39 PM

The Attorney General of the Federation said the laws under which the terrorists were tried did not prescribe death sentence.

The convicted

He made this known in Abuja on Wednesday, April 7, at the launch of Amnesty International Global Death Sentences and Executions report.

Malami, who was represented by Sylvester Imahanobe, assured that he would work to Amnesty International to stop execution of convicted criminals in Nigeria, if a bill to that effect is proposed by the international human rights body

“Terrorists in Nigeria are tried under the Terrorism Prevention Act which does not carry death penalty. That is why even those Boko Haram members, who have been convicted cannot be executed because the maximum sentence prescribed by the law is life sentence,” he said.

In stressing his support for the abolition of death penalty, the AGF pointed out that according to studies, "death penalty has not stopped people from committing crimes.”

READ: Military arrests suspected Boko Haram members in Sapele

He noted that the Federal Government is working towards ensuring that the prison system is indeed corrective and not punitive, as it is currently.

According to the Amnesty report, there was dramatic global rise in the number of executions recorded in 2015, which is the highest since the last 25 years.

The report put the number of people executed in 2015 across the world at 1,634 people, which is over 50 per cent of what was recorded in 2014. It listed Iran, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia as the countries with highest number of executions.

dimeji akinloye