African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights has urged Edo State Governor Adams Oshiomhole to reverse the death warrants for the execution of Daniel Nsofor and Osayinwinde Agbomien.
Oshiomhole signed the warrants after the Supreme Court sentenced the duo to death by hanging for murder.
Nsofor, who was convicted on June 19, 1996 by Justice Cromwell Idahosa, had tortured his female victim before killing her, while Agbomien robbed, dismembered and hid his victim’s body parts in an intended act of wickedness.
The Chairperson of the group, Dupe Atoki, in a statement on Monday, advised the governor to follow international standards by reversing death warrants.
She said, “The African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights is concerned about reports of imminent execution of two prisoners on death row in Benin prison in Edo State, Daniel Nsofor and Osayinwinde Agbomien, despite the current appeal in connection with the application of the death penalty in their situation.
“The Nigerian government is reminded that the commission at its 44th Ordinary Session in Abuja in November 2008 adopted a resolution calling on African states, including Nigeria, that still retain the death penalty to “observe a moratorium on the execution of death sentences with a view to abolishing the death penalty”.
Atoki, who pleaded with the governor to revert the penalty, appealed to the Federal Government to intervene for the rule of law to take its place.
She added, “The said resolution also forbids the application of “the death penalty in conditions not respectful of the right to a fair trial guaranteed under the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and other relevant international norms.”
October 30, 2012 by Sodiq Oyeleke
Written by NEWSTRAWL ONLINE UPDATE
Sodiq Oyeleke is a Media, Human Resources, Project Management and Public Relations Practitioner
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