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
- MAY 17, 2007NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
SHARIA STONING FOR NIGERIAN MAN
A Sharia court in Nigeria's north-eastern Bauchi State has sentenced a man to death for raping two teenage
- MAY 16, 2007NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
NIGERIA FREES ELDERLY PRISONERS BEFORE POWER SHIFT
Nigeria has granted an amnesty to all prisoners over 70 and to those over 60 who have been on death row
- MAY 14, 2007NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
NIGERIA COURT SENTENCES HOUSEWIFE TO DEATH BY HANGING
a Bauchi High Court sentenced Hussaina Muhammad, 23, a housewife, to death by hanging for killing her two year old step son Tajuddeen Muhammad.
- MAY 11, 2007NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
NIGERIA: SUPREME COURT ANNULS TWO DEATH VERDICTS
the Nigerian Supreme Court unanimously annulled the death sentence of police officer Simon Edibo...
- MAY 11, 2007Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
SAUDI ARABIA. FOUR EXECUTED FOR SMUGGLING DRUGS
Saudi Arabia beheaded three Pakistani men and a Nigerian by the sword after convicting them of drug trafficking.
- APRIL 16, 2007NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
the Presidential Commission on the Administrative Reform...
the Presidential Commission on the Administrative Reform...
- MARCH 21, 2007NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
DEATH ROWS OVERFLOW IN NIGERIA
about 600 people are now crammed into Nigeria's disease-infested death rows.
- MARCH 12, 2007NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
NIGERIA. SUPREME COURT AFFIRMS STUDENTS' DEATH SENTENCE
the Nigerian Supreme Court affirmed the death sentence passed on three students of Oko Polytechnic, Anambra State, for robbing a woman of N4,000 at gunpoint.
- FEBRUARY 26, 2007NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
NIGERIA. SUPREME COURT AFFIRMS DEATH SENTENCES FOR MURDER
the Nigerian Supreme Court affirmed the death sentence by hanging of John Ogbu and Linus Eze, found guilty of murdering Basil Ezian on October 12, 1986, over a minor disagreement caused by excessive drinking.
- FEBRUARY 23, 2007Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
SAUDI ARABIA. NIGERIAN EXECUTED FOR DRUG SMUGGLING
Saudi Arabia executed a convicted Nigerian cocaine smuggler, the second Nigerian drug trafficker to be put
- FEBRUARY 18, 2007Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
SAUDI ARABIA. NIGERIAN BEHEADED FOR DRUG TRAFFICKING
a Nigerian man was executed by sword in the Saudi city of Jeddah. The man, identified as Omar, was
- JANUARY 26, 2007NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
SINGAPORE EXECUTES MEN FOR DRUG SMUGGLING
Singapore has executed two African men for drug smuggling after rejecting appeals for clemency by Nigeria's president, the UN and rights groups. Iwuchukwu Amara Tochi, 21, of Nigeria, and 35-year-old Okeke Nelson Malachy, a stateless African, were hanged
- JANUARY 26, 2007NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
NIGERIAN SUPREME COURT ACQUITS MAN OF DEATH SENTENCE AFTER 15 YEARS
15 years after he was sentenced to death for murder, a police corporal, Mr. Sunday Udosen has been set
- JANUARY 16, 2007NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
NIGERIAN COURT SENTENCES SIX TO DEATH FOR ARMED ROBBERY
a northern Nigerian court has sentenced six people to death after they were found guilty of armed robbery, the official News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reported.
- JANUARY 16, 2007NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
the Supreme Court in Nigeria confirmed the death penalty of Adegboye Ibikunle...
the Supreme Court in Nigeria confirmed the death penalty of Adegboye Ibikunle...
- JANUARY 11, 2007NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
PREACHER TO HANG IN NIGERIA FOR BURNING FOLLOWERS
a Nigerian court sentenced a Nigerian evangelical preacher to death by hanging after finding him guilty of dousing seven members of his congregation with petrol and setting them ablaze, killing one.
- JANUARY 1, 2007NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
The Nigerian Constitution states at Part II...
The Nigerian Constitution states at Part II...
- DECEMBER 19, 2006NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
NIGERIA. DEATH SENTENCE FOR SEVEN CULT MEMBERS
a Lagos High Court in Nigeria convicted seven members of a cult group to death by hanging for the murder of an Islamic cleric.
- NOVEMBER 21, 2006Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
SAUDI ARABIA. PAKISTANI AND NIGERIAN BEHEADED FOR DRUG TRAFFICKING
a Pakistani and a Nigerian convicted of drug trafficking were beheaded by the sword in the western Saudi city of Mecca.
- OCTOBER 29, 2006Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
SAUDI ARABIA. MEN BEHEADED FOR DRUG SMUGGLING
Saudi Arabia beheaded two foreign nationals on charges they smuggled heroin and cocaine into the country, the Interior Ministry said.
- OCTOBER 12, 2006NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
NIGERIA. THREE PEOPLE SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR MURDER
three people were sentenced to death after being found guilty of murder by a court in the Nigerian town of Katsina. Shafi'u Atiku, Saidu Najume and Ali Adamu of Maidabino village were found guilty of murdering Dayyabu Abdu of the same village.
- OCTOBER 11, 2006NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
NIGERIA. "HERETIC" MUSLIM CLERIC SENTENCED TO DEATH
a high court in northern Nigeria's Adamawa state sentenced the leader of an unorthodox and militant Islamic sect on the run for 22 years to death by hanging, state-run Radio Nigeria Kaduna reported.
- OCTOBER 1, 2006NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
NIGERIA GRANTS REPRIEVE TO MORE THAN 100 DEATH ROW PRISONERS
more than 100 Nigerians condemned to death had their sentences commuted to life imprisonment as part of independence day celebrations in the West African country.
- JULY 18, 2006NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
NIGERIA. SUPREME COURT AFFIRMS DEATH SENTENCE ON POLICEMAN
more than five years after they committed the heinous crime, the Supreme Court has unanimously confirmed the death sentence passed on Constable Benjamin Oyakhire, one of the three police constables who murdered five businessmen on February 17, 2001 on Oke
- JULY 13, 2006NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
SINGAPORE. AMNESTY ASKS SINGAPORE NOT TO HANG TWO AFRICAN DRUG TRAFFICKERS
Amnesty International said it had written to Singapore President S.R. Nathan asking him to intervene to stop a Nigerian and a South African convicted of drug trafficking from being hanged.
- JUNE 27, 2006IndonesiaDEATH PENALTY
INDONESIA. AUTHORITIES TO EXECUTE 16 DRUG OFFENDERS, INCLUDING 10 FOREIGNERS
Indonesian authorities were preparing to execute 16 people on death row for drug trafficking, an official said.
- JUNE 15, 2006NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
Salisu Babuga was executed in Jos prison in Nigeria
Salisu Babuga was executed in Jos prison in Nigeria
- JUNE 12, 2006NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
NIGERIA. TWO SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR RITUAL KILLING
a Mgbidi High Court, Nigeria, sentenced Obinna Onyema and Benjamin Arizo to death for killing one Damian Okorocha for ritual purposes, on October 8, 2002 at Ubaha Etiti Omuma, Oru.
- JUNE 5, 2006NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
NIGERIA. MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR MURDER
an Asaba High Court in Nigeria, presided over by Justice Tessy Obiajulu Diai, sentenced 26-year-old trader Henry Ihiaeme to death by hanging for stabbing to death Endurance Odjegba during a scuffle over a bottle of beer on October 28, 2001.
- MAY 30, 2006NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
Kenneth Ekhone and Auwalu Musa were executed in the central jail in Kaduna, Nigeria.
Kenneth Ekhone and Auwalu Musa were executed in the central jail in Kaduna, Nigeria.