UN Asks Nigeria to End Death Penalty, Rights Violations

 Wale Igbintade with agency report

The United Nations (UN) has urged the Nigerian government to abolish the death penalty.

Last December, the spokesperson for the Nigerian Correctional Services, Abubakar Umar, disclosed that Nigeria’s correctional centres have 3,413 inmates on death row.

Member-states of the global body called for an immediate moratorium on the death penalty pending its abolition from Nigeria’s criminal justice system.

The calls, according to Premium Times, were made at the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of Nigeria in Geneva, Switzerland.

Nigeria’s delegation led by the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), is currently in Geneva for the UPR, which happens every four to five years.

The UPR is a unique mechanism of the Human Rights Council that calls for each UN member-state to undergo a peer review of its human rights records every 4.5 years.

While presenting Nigeria’s report of its human rights efforts, Fagbemi reeled out a plethora of laws and policies enacted by the government to curb rights abuses.

“Nigeria has enacted several legislations such as the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (2015), the Child Rights Act, and Anti-Torture Act amongst others to safeguard the rights of Nigerians,” the justice minister said.

The Attorney General said Nigeria’s quest for an improved human rights record led to the strengthening of public institutions to ensure accountability in the event of violations.

Fagbemi explained that the country had taken steps to “promote and protect the enjoyment of fundamental human rights of Nigerians.”

“Nigeria remains committed to the promotion of the rule of law and obedience to court decisions. Nigeria has designated the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) as the independent National Preventive Mechanism against torture,” the AGF said.

He added that the Child Rights Act is now domesticated across the 36 states of Nigeria, while the Violence Against Persons Prohibition Act is already adopted in many States across the country.

Speaking further on other areas of rights enforcement, the minister noted that the government set up investigative panels following protests over police brutality in Nigeria in 2020, with outcomes of the probe leading to payment of compensations to victims of violations.

On the Nigerian delegation are Wale Fapohunda, a former Attorney-General of Ekiti State; Olumide Osoba, a member of the House of Representatives and Chairman, House Committee on Justice; Abdulrahman Yukubu, a director at the National Human Rights Commission; and the Solicitor-General of the Federation, Ms. Jeddy-Agba.

They took turns to present Nigeria’s report of its implementation of human rights mechanisms, which were previously recommended by the UN Human Rights Council.

Nigeria was last reviewed by the 193-member body in 2018 when it made far-reaching recommendations aimed at bolstering the country’s human rights status.

However, the Nigerian government’s claims of its accomplishments in the “protection and promotion of Nigerians rights” are at variance with practical issues in the country.