No execution but Nigeria’s death row figure amongst world’s highest

Over 3,200 inmates in Nigeria are currently on death row, according to the Nigerian Correctional Service.

The organization said there are a total of 3,298 inmates on death row, making about 4.5% of the total number of inmates in Nigeria’s custodial centres.

– Numbers from abroad

The death row number for Nigeria is amongst the highest in the world, based on our analysis. But a reason for that is that while Nigeria has retained the capital punishment, it has not carried out execution since 2016, unlike other countries.

The United States has 2414 people on death row and continues to carry out executions. Ghana has 165 and Zambia has 257. Iraq has 4000 people while Japan has 106 and Indonesia has 404.

– Learn more

Nigeria’s last execution took place in Edo state.

The public relations officer of the Nigerian Correctional Service, Abubakar Umar, told the News Agency of Nigeria that many of the convicts committed offences like murder, armed robbery, and terrorism.

“Before the moratorium on execution of IDRs became widespread, executions of IDRs were being carried out as and at when due. But with the rising activities of human rights groups, many governments shy away from signing the death warrants of these offenders,” he said. Nigeria’s new prisons law in 2019 changed the term “condemned criminal” to “Inmates on Death Row” (IDR).

Umar urged state governors who do not want to sign the death warrants to commute them to other sanctions.

“This will ensure that the toga of death is removed from them,” he said. “It will also help us to properly manage them smoothly,” he said.