NGO asks FG to replace death penalty with long-term imprisonment

Hope Behind Bars Africa, a non-governmental organisation (NGO), has called on the federal government to review capital punishment laws and replace the death penalty with long-term imprisonment.

The call is contained in the NGO’s report, “Beyond her sentence: A technical analysis of gender and capital punishment in Nigeria”, released after a 10-month study across 10 correctional facilities nationwide.

Presenting the report’s findings, Funke Adeoye, executive director of Hope Behind Bars Africa, said executions should be stopped to prevent irreversible injustice.

“Our justice system is not perfect, and when mistakes happen, the death penalty leaves no room for correction,” Adeoye said.

Nigeria retains capital punishment under statutory, customary and Sharia legal systems, prescribing death sentences for offences such as murder, armed robbery, treason and adultery in some jurisdictions.

Quoting findings from the report, she said 82 women are currently on death row in prisons across the country.

Adeoye said researchers surveyed 60 female death row inmates in 10 states and conducted interviews with state counsels, defence lawyers and civil society groups.

She noted that almost half of women on death row are aged between 18 and 35, while 26 percent fall in the 36 to 50 age bracket.

She added that the report highlighted the “alarmingly low” educational levels among the convicts, noting that over a third have no formal schooling, while just 10 percent have reached tertiary education.

Adeoye said the report revealed that about 70 percent of the women are mothers, leaving their children in unstable care arrangements or informal guardianship, with long-term social and psychological consequences.

“According to the study, more than a third of the women had experienced gender-based violence, including domestic abuse, forced marriage and child marriage,” she said.

“In several cases, the offences for which they were convicted were linked to coercion or prolonged abuse by spouses or partners.

“Poverty and economic dependence were identified as major factors contributing to wrongful convictions, as many of the women lacked access to competent legal representation.”

Within the justice system, she said the report highlighted a widespread lack of awareness and transparency.

“About 75 percent of the inmates said they did not understand the specific laws under which they were charged, while 85 percent believed the law was unfair to women,” Adeoye said.

“More than half described their trials as non-transparent, and 62 percent said they did not understand the investigation or court processes.

“Many of the women also reported abandonment by spouses and families after their incarceration, particularly in cases involving adultery or sexual offences, where social stigma was harsher for women than men.

“Despite their circumstances, over 80 percent of the women interviewed said rehabilitation was possible and preferable to execution.

“They recommended alternatives such as long-term imprisonment, vocational training and restorative justice.”

Hope Behind Bars called for an immediate moratorium on executions as a step toward abolition, legal reforms to remove discriminatory evidentiary rules, expansion of legal aid services and the adoption of gender-sensitive sentencing.

The group recommended reforms in detention practices to provide reproductive healthcare, childcare and mental health support, alongside investment in rehabilitation and reintegration programmes.

The report added that women on death row are “not criminals in isolation” but products of systemic inequality, cultural oppression and socio-economic hardship, urging Nigeria to move toward rehabilitation-centred justice in line with global abolitionist trends.