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
- 1,117
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 1,117 news items on Nigeria, from 1999 to today.
In Nigeria the death penalty is provided for by the penal code and, in the northern states applying sharia law, also for offences such as apostasy and adultery. The methods provided for are hanging and shooting.
Sentences are numerous and death row is crowded, while actual executions are rare and concentrated in short periods. The archive follows sentences, executions and commutations.
Latest news
- AUGUST 21, 2002NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
The New Zealand National Party called on the Government...
The New Zealand National Party called on the Government to cut $50,000 foreign aid to Nigeria, after the death sentence was handed out to Amina Lawal Kurami for having a child outside marriage
- AUGUST 21, 2002NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
An unmarried pregnant Nigerian woman, desperate not...
An unmarried pregnant Nigerian woman, desperate not to go home after a court ruling that a women is to face death by stoning for having a child out of wedlock, won temporary refuge in Cyprus, officials said
- AUGUST 21, 2002NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
The All African Global media reported that various...
The All African Global media reported that various rights groups in Nigeria had mobilised in defence of Amina Lawal Kurami, sentenced to death for having sex outside of marriage
- AUGUST 20, 2002NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
In a statement regarding the sentencing to death by...
In a statement regarding the sentencing to death by stoning for adultery of Amina Lawal Kurami, executive director of the Women's Rights Division of Human Rights Watch, LaShawn R Jefferson said: "The legal system is being used to punish adult women for co
- AUGUST 20, 2002NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
The European Commission, the executive arm of the European...
The European Commission, the executive arm of the European Union (EU), said it was concerned over a Nigerian court ruling that a 31-year-old woman, Amina Lawal Kurami must face death by stoning for having a child out of wedlock
- AUGUST 19, 2002NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
Britain expressed concern to the Nigerian government...
Britain expressed concern to the Nigerian government over the Appeal Court ruling upholding the death sentence by stoning passed on Amina Lawal Kurami, a woman convicted of adultery under the country's Sharia law
- AUGUST 19, 2002NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
Amina Lawal Kurami, a single mother of 30, had her...
Amina Lawal Kurami, a single mother of 30, had her appeal rejected by an Islamic high court in northern Nigeria and thus came one step closer to being stoned to death for having sex out of wedlock
- AUGUST 12, 2002NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
Nigeria warned Miss World contestants to steer clear...
Nigeria warned Miss World contestants to steer clear of parts of the country practising sharia law during the pageant's finals in the capital, Abuja, in November
- AUGUST 6, 2002NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
Nigerians Johnson Oshodi, Tunde Apatira, Oladotun Lukmanu...
Nigerians Johnson Oshodi, Tunde Apatira, Oladotun Lukmanu Umaru and a Chinese national from Hong Kong, Chu Tak Fai, appealed to the Malaysia Federal Court for a revision of their death sentences following a decision by the Court of Appeal acquitting mecha
- JULY 24, 2002NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
Many prisoners are languishing on death row in Nigeria's...
Many prisoners are languishing on death row in Nigeria's various prisons due to the failure of some state governors to endorse their execution warrants
- JULY 16, 2002NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
Rapists may face the death penalty in Nigeria under...
Rapists may face the death penalty in Nigeria under a new law to enhance children's rights, according to Women Affairs and Youth Development Minister Aisha Isma'il
- JULY 15, 2002NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
The death sentence passed on Uchenna Uwachukwu for...
The death sentence passed on Uchenna Uwachukwu for killing his business partner, Benjamin Iheama, by the high court and court of appeal was confirmed by the Supreme Court
- JULY 8, 2002NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
A 20-year-old man, Aliyu Ibrahim, from Adamawa State,...
A 20-year-old man, Aliyu Ibrahim, from Adamawa State, who claimed to have blasphemed against the Prophet Muhammad has taken himself to the Upper Sharia Court Two, Sokoto, asking for the death penalty, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reported
- JULY 8, 2002NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
An Islamic court in northern Nigeria began hearing...
An Islamic court in northern Nigeria began hearing an appeal from a woman convicted of adultery and sentenced to death by stoning under controversial Sharia, or Islamic, law
- JULY 5, 2002NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
The Spanish section of Amnesty International delivered...
The Spanish section of Amnesty International delivered an additional 310,000 signatures to the Nigerian Embassy in Madrid requesting the acquittal of Amina Nawal, a woman sentenced to death by stoning in the African nation
- JULY 4, 2002NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
The Civil Liberty Organisation (CLO) called on Nigeria's...
The Civil Liberty Organisation (CLO) called on Nigeria's Federal Government to abolish the death penalty and fashion a legislation that would protect and safeguard lives in accordance with acceptable international norms
- JULY 1, 2002NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
A 25-year-old married man, Gawata Lababa Turun, accused...
A 25-year-old married man, Gawata Lababa Turun, accused of impregnating his sister-in-law Nasifatu Umaru, 16, escaped being sentenced to death by stoning because of the failure by the prosecution to produce four witnesses against him
- JUNE 27, 2002NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
Three Nigerians sentenced to death in Malaysia for...
Three Nigerians sentenced to death in Malaysia for dadah trafficking in 1995 are seeking to revise the decision of the Federal Court affirming their penalty
- JUNE 24, 2002NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
A high court in Jigawa State has sentenced a 25-year-old...
A high court in Jigawa State has sentenced a 25-year-old man to death for raping a 76-year-old woman to death, while a Sharia court in Bauchi has ordered the amputation of the right hand of a man for stealing domestic items estimated at N19,800
- JUNE 24, 2002NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
NIGERIA: TWO MEN SENTENCED TO STONING
- JUNE 3, 2002NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
Nigeria's Civil Liberties Organisation (CLO) appealed...
Nigeria's Civil Liberties Organisation (CLO) appealed to Abia State Governor Orji Kalu to exercise his prerogative of mercy for four Nigerians whose death sentence was recently affirmed by the Supreme Court
- JUNE 3, 2002NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
A Nigerian woman sentenced to death by stoning for...
A Nigerian woman sentenced to death by stoning for adultery will be free to look after her child until January 2004, whatever the outcome of her appeal, an Islamic court ruled
- MAY 21, 2002NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
Olusegun Obasanjo, Nigeria's President, said he does...
Olusegun Obasanjo, Nigeria's President, said he does not see the adoption of Sharia law by a dozen states in Nigeria as a threat, amid international pressure on him to amend laws calling for execution by stoning for Islamic crimes such as adultery
- MAY 21, 2002NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
The Nigerian Supreme court held that "In a murder charge,...
The Nigerian Supreme court held that "In a murder charge, for the prosecution to discharge its burden of proving the case beyond reasonable doubt, it must prove the death of the deceased, the act or omission of the accused which caused the death, and that
- MAY 20, 2002NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
Two human rights groups called on the Nigerian authorities...
Two human rights groups called on the Nigerian authorities to disband government-backed vigilante groups, including one accused of a reign of terror in the southeast of the country
- MAY 10, 2002NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
A Sharia court in northern Nigeria sentenced a 50-year...
A Sharia court in northern Nigeria sentenced a 50-year old man to be stoned to death after he admitted raping a nine-year old girl
- MAY 8, 2002NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
Two Nigerians who converted to Christianity nearly...
Two Nigerians who converted to Christianity nearly met their maker sooner than they anticipated
- APRIL 25, 2002NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
Nigeria voted against the resolution 2002/77 on the...
Nigeria voted against the resolution 2002/77 on the death penalty at the 58th UN Commission on Human Rights
- APRIL 25, 2002NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
Nigerian Muslim prosecutors are seeking the death penalty...
Nigerian Muslim prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for two men accused of converting from Islam to Christianity
- APRIL 25, 2002NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
Nigerian Islamic prosecutors seek death penalty for Christian converts
April 25, 2002: Nigerian Muslim prosecutors in the northern Zamfara state are seeking the death penalty for two men accused of converting from Islam to Christianity.