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
- JANUARY 23, 2003NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
A Nigerian Islamic court ruled that Amina Lawal, the...
A Nigerian Islamic court ruled that Amina Lawal, the Nigerian woman sentenced to be stoned to death for bearing a child out of wedlock, will begin her latest appeal on March 25
- JANUARY 23, 2003NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
Grand Khadi Aminu Ibrahim Katsina, the chief judge...
Grand Khadi Aminu Ibrahim Katsina, the chief judge presiding over the case of Amina Lawal, a woman sentenced to death by stoning for adultery, said of fornication that ''The best deterrent is the death sentence, for people to see what happens to a fornica
- JANUARY 21, 2003NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
Libya agreed to commute the death sentences imposed...
Libya agreed to commute the death sentences imposed on a Nigerian and three Ghanaians convicted of murdering a Libyan, Nigerian officials said
- JANUARY 15, 2003NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
Nigeria urged Libya to commute the death sentences...
Nigeria urged Libya to commute the death sentences of a Nigerian and three Ghanaians convicted of a 1995 murder, a foreign ministry statement said
- JANUARY 1, 2003NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
The death penalty is provided for by the Criminal Code...
The death penalty is provided for by the Criminal Code and the legislation on civil disturbances for armed robbery, murder, treason, and offenses against the State
- JANUARY 1, 2003NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
The Nigerian Constitution states at Part II, Chapter...
The Nigerian Constitution states at Part II, Chapter IV on Fundamental Rights, Art
- JANUARY 1, 2003NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
The first Sharia-based execution in Nigeria since its...
The first Sharia-based execution in Nigeria since its introduction took place in 2002
- JANUARY 1, 2003NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
Armed robbery, murder, treason, and offences against...
Armed robbery, murder, treason, and offences against the State are capital crimes under national law
- JANUARY 1, 2003NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
Nigeria has signed and ratified the statutes of the...
Nigeria has signed and ratified the statutes of the International Criminal Court, the UN permanent judicial body capable of trying individuals for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes
- JANUARY 1, 2003NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
Death sentences for crimes such as murder are usually...
Death sentences for crimes such as murder are usually carried out by hanging, but firing squads are sometimes used to kill armed robbers and convicted traitors
- DECEMBER 29, 2002NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
"Religion and law are supposed to guide society and...
"Religion and law are supposed to guide society and to enable human beings to live in harmony
- DECEMBER 19, 2002NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
Ahmed Mu'azu, Governor of Bauchi State, advised sharia...
Ahmed Mu'azu, Governor of Bauchi State, advised sharia judges in the state not to rush judgement on women accused of adultery and thus threatened with death by stoning
- NOVEMBER 29, 2002NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
Nigeria's top Muslim authorities ruled that a religious...
Nigeria's top Muslim authorities ruled that a religious edict calling for a journalist to be killed "should be ignored"
- NOVEMBER 28, 2002NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
Hands Off Cain, which sustains the appeal made yesterday...
Hands Off Cain, which sustains the appeal made yesterday by the Christian leaders of Nigeria urging the federal government to take precautionary measures for the Christian community by calling on the Italian government and the European Union to take actio
- NOVEMBER 26, 2002NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
Islamic authorities in the northern Nigerian state...
Islamic authorities in the northern Nigerian state of Zamfara issued a fatwa urging Muslims to kill Isioma Daniel, a writer for the private daily This Day, whose November 16 article about the Miss World pageant sparked deadly riots across the country
- NOVEMBER 25, 2002NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
The Red Cross said that 200 people died during clashes...
The Red Cross said that 200 people died during clashes in Kaduna
- NOVEMBER 21, 2002NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
At least 10 people were killed after thousands of rioting...
At least 10 people were killed after thousands of rioting Muslim youths torched churches, looted shops and destroyed vehicles in the northern Nigerian city of Kaduna amid rising Muslim fury over the country's staging of the Miss World pageant
- NOVEMBER 18, 2002NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
The troubled Miss World contest faced further controversy...
The troubled Miss World contest faced further controversy today after it emerged that 11 children in host nation Nigeria could have their hands amputated for petty theft
- NOVEMBER 13, 2002NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
"I really appreciate the support of the contestants who have offered to boycott for me
"I really appreciate the support of the contestants who have offered to boycott for me
- NOVEMBER 11, 2002NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
Nigerian officials celebrated as a planeload of beauty...
Nigerian officials celebrated as a planeload of beauty queens arrived for the Miss World pageant which had been threatened by a mass boycott over the country's Islamic stoning sentences
- NOVEMBER 11, 2002NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
Nigerian officials celebrated on Monday as a planeload...
Nigerian officials celebrated on Monday as a planeload of beauty queens arrived for the Miss World pageant, which had been threatened by a mass boycott over the country's Islamic stoning sentences
- NOVEMBER 7, 2002NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
The so-called Supreme Council for Shariah in Nigeria...
The so-called Supreme Council for Shariah in Nigeria condemned the recent call by President Obasanjo for the abolition of the death penalty worldwide
- NOVEMBER 7, 2002NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
Hurera Akilu-Atta, who is one of Amina Lawal's lawyers...
Hurera Akilu-Atta, who is one of Amina Lawal's lawyers and who works for Baobab, a women's human rights organisation in Nigeria said: "When we heard that participants were boycotting this event, we felt happy and hopeful," she said
- OCTOBER 31, 2002NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
A 29-year-old Nigerian man who confessed to committing...
A 29-year-old Nigerian man who confessed to committing fornication last June was Thursday given 100 strokes of the cane, under the controversial Islamic Sharia law
- OCTOBER 30, 2002NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
Only four Miss World contestants will boycott the beauty...
Only four Miss World contestants will boycott the beauty contest due to be held in Nigeria on December 7 in protest against the death sentence given to Amina Lawal
- OCTOBER 30, 2002NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
The Minister of state for foreign affairs, Dubem Onyia,...
The Minister of state for foreign affairs, Dubem Onyia, said: "Nobody will ever be stoned as a result of sharia law
- OCTOBER 29, 2002NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
Nigeria vowed to block Islamic courts from carrying...
Nigeria vowed to block Islamic courts from carrying out any executions by stoning, promising to hold the line against sentences in northern states that have provoked international protests and boycott threats
- OCTOBER 28, 2002NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
The Abia State governor, Chief Orji Uzor Kalu may grant...
The Abia State governor, Chief Orji Uzor Kalu may grant the prerogative of mercy to four condemned persons by commuting their convicts to prison terms
- OCTOBER 25, 2002NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
Amina Lawal, the Nigerian mother condemned to death...
Amina Lawal, the Nigerian mother condemned to death by stoning said she wants Miss World contestants to go to Nigeria for the beauty pageant due to be held in Abuja
- OCTOBER 22, 2002NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
Former Mexican beauty queen Lupita Jones confirmed...
Former Mexican beauty queen Lupita Jones confirmed her country's participation in the Miss World 2002 beauty pageant, to be held in Nigeria