Ogun State Government has indicated its readiness to begin to execute convicted criminals. Even though the Nigerian constitution allows death sentence, governors and even president often shy away from their responsibility of signing the warrant. They do commute the sentence to life imprisonment.
Commentators argue that signing death warrant would help to reduce murder and other related crimes in the country. But most countries of the world have got rid of death penalty.
On Friday, the Ogun State Attorney General and Commissioner of Justice Oluwashina Ogungbade paid a visit to the Ibara Correctional Facility in Abeokuta, the state capital. It was there he revealed that the government had mulled the idea of signing the warrant.
“I can tell you that we are looking seriously at a means of sending a message that Ogun State is not a place where you can come and commit such serious crimes and get away with it,” he said.
“The law as of today, for example, states that a murder case attracts the death penalty and some other offences. But if you look at it nationally, for a long time, there has been reluctance on the part of governments across the states, particularly since the advent of democratic rule, to sign death warrants. But I assure you that at this time, we are looking very seriously at following the law to its letter.
“It is part of the duty of the governor to sign death warrants, and I am certain that when he took that oath of office, he took it knowing full well the responsibilities that come with it. He is a governor who upholds the rule of law, so I can assure you that in deserving cases, he will not shy away from that constitutional duty.
Though I may not give a timeline, I can only say that in deserving cases, which we are looking at, it will happen.”
He said that the government would not be reckless about this, rather it would be highly responsive and responsible.
“If somebody has gone through the process of a fair trial and has made use of all his appeals, we will begin to look seriously at implementing those judgments, hoping that it will serve as a deterrent to those who still intend to carry out such crimes. But in doing so, I can assure you that we will be systematic about it; we will not be reckless about it,” he assured.
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