The National Human Rights Commission has urged the Federal Government to formally suspend executions and asked state governors to consider commuting eligible death sentences to life imprisonment.
Its Executive Secretary, Chief Tony Ojukwu, made the appeal in Abuja during activities marking the 2026 World Day Against the Death Penalty. He said more than 3,000 people remained on death row and described Nigeria as approaching a decade without an execution, despite courts continuing to impose capital punishment.
Ojukwu argued that the justice system must confront concerns about access to legal representation, coerced confessions, prolonged trials and mandatory death sentences that prevent judges from considering mitigating circumstances.
The commission proposed a formal moratorium, use of the constitutional power of mercy and a review of laws requiring capital punishment. The event involved Avocats Sans Frontières France, the Australian High Commission and the German Embassy, with Norwegian support. Capital punishment remains lawful in Nigeria, making the commission’s proposals a call for policy and legislative reform rather than a statement of existing abolition.
