Nigeria
Death penalty and prisoners' rights · Archive since 1999
Data card
- Legal status
- Retentionist
- Executions recorded in 2026
- 0
- Executions recorded in 2025
- 0
- First news item in the archive
- JANUARY 1, 1999 · The death penalty is provided for by the Criminal Code...
- News items in the archive
- 1,104
Source: Hands Off Cain database, updated to 2026.
Nigeria is classified as Retentionist in the Hands Off Cain database, updated to 2026. In 2026 the association recorded 0 executions in the country, against 0 the year before. The archive holds 1,104 news items on Nigeria, from 1999 to today.
Latest news
- OCTOBER 25, 2009NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
NIGERIA: LAMIDO PARDONS SIX PRISONERS
in Nigeria, Jigawa State Governor Alhaji Sule Lamido pardoned six prisoners sentenced to death by hanging for culpable homicide.
- OCTOBER 21, 2009NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
NIGERIA: KADUNA COURT SENTENCES MAN TO DEATH
Justice Gideon Kurada of the Kaduna High Court in Nigeria sentenced Halilu Dahiru to death for killing Mohammed Sani with a dane gun on March 28, 2007 in Chikun, Kaduna State, for befriending a girl he intended to marry.
- OCTOBER 21, 2009NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
NIGERIA: KADUNA COURT SENTENCES TWO TO DEATH
Justice Gideon Kurada of the Kaduna High Court in Nigeria sentenced two men to death by hanging for conspiracy, armed robbery and culpable homicide.
- OCTOBER 13, 2009NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
EBONYI (NIGERIA): GOVERNOR SIGNS DEATH SENTENCE FOR KIDNAPPERS
Governor Martin Elechi of Ebonyi State in Nigeria signed into law a bill that provides for death penalty for
- OCTOBER 5, 2009IndonesiaDEATH PENALTY
LAWYERS ACT TO SAVE NIGERIAN ON DEATH ROW IN INDONESIA
Nigerian Titus Ani was convicted of smuggling heroin in Indonesia, without what members of Amnesty International described as “experienced lawyers carefully preparing and presenting his case”.
OCTOBER 5, 2009NigeriaDEATH PENALTYNIGERIA: 36 GOVS ADVOCATE DEATH PENALTY FOR KIDNAPPERS
the governors of the 36 states of the Nigerian federation called on the Federal Government to sentence
- OCTOBER 1, 2009LibyaDEATH PENALTY
LIBYA HALTS EXECUTION OF NIGERIANS ON DEATH ROW
Libyan authorities agreed to stay the execution of the approximately 200 Nigerians on death row pending a
- OCTOBER 1, 2009NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
NIGERIA: LAWMAKER CALLS FOR DEATH PENALTY FOR KIDNAPPERS
the Deputy Minority Leader of the Kaduna State House of Assembly in Nigeria, Mohammed Iliyasu, called for the severe punishments including the death penalty for kidnappers and their conspirators.
OCTOBER 1, 2009NigeriaDEATH PENALTYNIGERIA: ONDO GOVERNOR PARDONS FOUR DEATH ROW INMATES
the Ondo State governor, Olusegun Mimiko, commuted the death sentences on four people to jail terms to
SEPTEMBER 24, 2009NigeriaDEATH PENALTYNIGERIA: FG SEEKS DEATH PENALTY FOR FAKE DRUG OFFENDERS
the nigerian Federal Government recommended death penalty for fake drugdealers.
- SEPTEMBER 22, 2009NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
NIGERIA: BOKO HARAM - WHY WE EXECUTED THEM
the summary execution of the Boko Haram religious sect leader Malam Mohammed Yusuf and scores of his followers in July 2009 was necessary in order to quell a very dangerous situation, according to the Nigeria Police high command.
- SEPTEMBER 21, 2009NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
HOPE DIMS FOR 57 NIGERIANS ON DEATH ROW
the Nigerian Federal Government might be unable to save the 57 Nigerians facing the death row in different
- SEPTEMBER 12, 2009NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
NIGERIA: TEENAGER SENTENCED TO DEATH BY HANGING
in Nigeria, Chief Justice Bemari Bansi of the Yola High Court sentenced Patrick Ozeoma to hang for a murder committed when he was a minor.
- SEPTEMBER 7, 2009NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
NIGERIA: GROUP SEEKS AFRICA COMMISSION’S INTERVENTION
a Nigerian civil society organisation, Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP), asked Acting Chairperson of the Africa Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights...
- SEPTEMBER 6, 2009NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
NIGERIA: NAFDAC SEEKS STIFFER PENALTY AGAINST DRUG COUNTERFEITERS
lifetime jail terms or the death penalty would be pronounced on manufacturers and distributors of fake and
- AUGUST 30, 2009LibyaDEATH PENALTY
NIGERIA: ALANA WRITES TO AL-GADDAFI OVER NIGERIANS
Lagos lawyer Femi Falana urged Libyan leader Muammar al-Gaddafi to order a stay of execution for all Nigerians on death row in his country.
AUGUST 26, 2009NigeriaDEATH PENALTYNIGERIA: DEATH ROW PRISONERS FREED IN LAGOS STATE
in Nigeria, Lagos State Governor Babatunde Fashola granted an amnesty on "humanitarian grounds" to
- AUGUST 17, 2009NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
GROUP SEEKS REPRIEVE FOR NIGERIANS ON LIBYAN DEATH ROW
Nigerian rights group Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) appealed to the African Union (AU) to prevail on Libya not to execute 14 Nigerians said to be on death row in the North African nation.
- AUGUST 14, 2009LibyaDEATH PENALTY
RELATIVES REVEAL NIGERIANS EXECUTED IN LIBYA
between 32 and 40 black Africans, mainly Nigerians, were secretly executed in Libya despite a denial by the Libyan presidency, a Nigerian House of Representatives source said.
- AUGUST 13, 2009LibyaDEATH PENALTY
NIGERIA: PRESIDENTIAL SPOKESMAN SAYS "ONLY 14 NIGERIANS" ON DEATH ROW IN LIBYA
the Nigerian Presidency said that there were only 14 Nigerians on death row in Libya and they were convicted of offences such as murder, drugs and armed robbery.
- AUGUST 2, 2009Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
SAUDI ARABIA EXECUTES NIGERIAN FOR MURDER
Nigerian national Qorbi bin Musa Adam was beheaded by the sword in Jeddah, Saudi
- AUGUST 1, 2009NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
NIGERIA: KIDNAPPERS DESERVE DEATH IN DELTA – CHIEF WHIP OWHEFERE
Honourable Tim Owhefere, the Chief Whip of the Delta State House of Assembly in Nigeria...
- JULY 30, 2009NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
NIGERIA: BABA FUGU MOHAMMED SUMMARILY EXCUTED
in Nigeria, Boko Haram Leader Mohammed Yusuf's 72 year old father-in-law, Baba Fugu Mohammed, was also killed in police custody.
- JULY 30, 2009NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
NIGERIA: BOKO HARAM LEADER, YUSUF, KILLED
Mohammed Yusuf, the leader of the Nigerian Islamic sect Boko Haram, was killed in custody just hours after police said they captured him in the city of Maiduguri.
- JULY 21, 2009NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
NIGERIA: NBA AGAINST DEATH SENTENCE FOR KIDNAPPERS
the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) advised states proposing death sentence as penalty for kidnapping offences to drop the idea in the interest of the country.
- JUNE 23, 2009ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA: NIGERIAN GETS DEATH IN SOUTH CHINA
four people convicted of drug trafficking were sentenced to death by the Dongguan Intermediate People's Court in south China's Guangdong Province
- JUNE 18, 2009NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
NIGERIA: DEATH PENALTY FOR KIDNAPPERS CAN'T WORK - NHRC
the Nigerian Human Rights Commission asked governors from the South East and South geopolitical zones to reconsider their position on the laws, which impose the death penalty on kidnappers.
- JUNE 16, 2009NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
NIGERIA: KIDNAPPERS DESERVE DEATH PENALTY -IZUOGU
worried by the ceaseless cases kidnapping in the South East Geo-political Zone, notable politician and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Chieftain, Dr Ezekiel Izuogu, called for capital punishment for kidnappers
- JUNE 7, 2009NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
NIGERIA: DEATH SENTENCE AWAITS KIDNAPPERS - OBI
determined to curb the rising cases of kidnapping in the South-East zone of Nigeria...
- JUNE 3, 2009NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
NIGERIA: SHARIA COUNCIL CONDEMNS MOVE ON DEATH PENALTY
the Jigawa State chapter of the Supreme Council for Shari'ah in Nigeria condemned the current move by the House of Representatives to abolish capital punishment.