"A system that would take a life must first give justice."

"A system that would take a life must first give justice."
“This statement captures the sentiments embodied in our recommendation for an official moratorium on executions until the Nigerian Criminal Justice System can ensure fundamental fairness and due process in capital cases and minimise the risk that innocent people will be executed,” stated Olawale Fapohunda of Nigeria’s Legal Resource Consortium.
“The call for an official moratorium on all executions is borne out of the conviction that the Federal Government can no longer ignore the systemic problems that have long existed in our criminal justice system. These problems have been exacerbated by limited funding of criminal justice agencies, inadequate training of personnel and inadequate legal aid scheme.
“We found that one of the most intractable problems in death penalty administration in Nigeria is the severe lack of competent and adequately compensated counsel for indigent defendants and death row inmates seeking appeals. The limited funding and mandate of the legal aid scheme has seriously undermined the support system for lawyers taking these complex and demanding cases. As a result, the shortage of competent lawyers for persons facing capital punishment offences has never been greater. It is particularly noteworthy and of concern that the Legal Aid Council presently does not provide legal assistance and advise for persons facing capital offences. See LAVENDE v TRINIDAD & TOBAGO COMMUNICATION No. 554/1993 Where the UN Human Rights Committee stated that legal aid should be made available throughout death penalty proceedings and for the purpose of appeal. The direct consequence of this is the fact that inmates who are on death row in Nigeria’s prisons are almost exclusively poor and without legal representation.
“It is our view that although there may be a wide disparity of views on death penalty, there is almost universal consensus that persons who are defacto vulnerable should not be executed. For example we hold that it would offend civilised standards of decency to impose the death penalty on juveniles or mentally-challenged offenders.
“It is our opinion that there is much disturbing evidence with the current criminal justice system that Nigerians cannot rely on it to produce results that are either fair or accurate,” Fapohunda concluded.