NIGERIA’s prisons are in dire straits. Congestion, lack of health care, access to legal representation and shortage of personnel are inexorably their sordid features. One of these shortcomings – congestion arising from the high number of inmates on death row – has moved the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, to lament.
A total of 1,832 inmates have been waiting for the hangman’s noose for a long time due to the failure of state governors to sign death warrants, which they are officially obligated. Moral, religious and political suasions appear to be obvious rampart. Malami says the ministry “is presently preparing a memorandum to the National Economic Council to apprise the governors of this issue and seek their cooperation in addressing this challenge.”
This is not the first time the issue would engage their attention. In…
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