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
- NOVEMBER 1, 2001NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
Nigeria's Senate president Anyim Pius Anyim condemned...
Nigeria's Senate president Anyim Pius Anyim condemned a ruling by an Islamic court in northern Nigeria that sentenced a woman to death by stoning after finding her guilty of having pre-marital sex, news reports said
- OCTOBER 26, 2001NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
The New York-based rights organisation, Human Rights...
The New York-based rights organisation, Human Rights Watch (HRW), condemned a recent ruling by an Islamic court in northern Nigeria that sentenced a woman to death by stoning for having sex before marriage
- OCTOBER 24, 2001NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
Amnesty International called for a prompt, effective...
Amnesty International called for a prompt, effective and impartial inquiry into reports that troops have shot dead more than 100 people in central Nigeria
- OCTOBER 11, 2001NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
An Islamic court in northern Nigeria sentenced a pregnant...
An Islamic court in northern Nigeria sentenced a pregnant woman to death by stoning for having pre-marital sex, court officials said
- OCTOBER 11, 2001NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
The Civil Liberties Organisation (CLO) called on the...
The Civil Liberties Organisation (CLO) called on the Sokoto State Governor, Alhaji Attahiru Barafawa and the President of the Supreme Council of Islamic Affairs, Sultan Muhammed Maccido to review the death sentence passed on a pregnant woman, Safiya Hussa
- SEPTEMBER 12, 2001NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
The Sharia Court in Birnin-Kebbi sentenced 35-year-old...
The Sharia Court in Birnin-Kebbi sentenced 35-year-old Attahiru Umaru to death by stoning for forcibly having anal sex with a seven-year-old boy in the Zamfara state capital
- AUGUST 13, 2001NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
The Tangerang District Court in Indonesia sentenced...
The Tangerang District Court in Indonesia sentenced to death Okwudili Ayotanze, 21, and Hansen Anthony Nwaliosa, 33, both Nigerian nationals
- AUGUST 2, 2001NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
The official Saudi Press Agency reported that a Nigerian...
The official Saudi Press Agency reported that a Nigerian man was publicly beheaded in the Red Port city of Jeddah for smuggling cocaine into the country
- JULY 30, 2001NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
A six-year-old Nigerian boy faces a possible death...
A six-year-old Nigerian boy faces a possible death sentence after a four-month-old girl drowned in his care
- JULY 17, 2001NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
Nigeria's police chiefs vowed to stamp out the practice...
Nigeria's police chiefs vowed to stamp out the practice by vigilante groups of executing suspected robbers, BBC reported
- JULY 6, 2001NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
Nine northern Nigerian states have adopted the Sharia code
Nine northern Nigerian states have adopted the Sharia code
- JULY 2, 2001NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
The News Agency of Nigeria reported that the Nigerian...
The News Agency of Nigeria reported that the Nigerian government was using all diplomatic channels to plead for clemency for four Nigerians sentenced to death in Libya
- APRIL 25, 2001NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
Nigeria voted against the resolution on the death penalty...
Nigeria voted against the resolution on the death penalty approved by the UN Commission on Human Rights on April 25, 2001 (2001/68)
- APRIL 4, 2001NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
Nigerian police described the death sentence passed...
Nigerian police described the death sentence passed in April on three mobile policemen as a "good and reliable" judgement
- APRIL 1, 2001NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
Three Nigerian police officers were sentenced to death...
Three Nigerian police officers were sentenced to death for burning five people alive after robbing them at gunpoint
- JANUARY 23, 2001NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
Chief of Naval Staff, Rear Admiral Victor Ombu, advocated...
Chief of Naval Staff, Rear Admiral Victor Ombu, advocated the death penalty on communal war mongers as a deterrent
- JANUARY 1, 2001NigeriaDEATH 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
- DECEMBER 13, 2000NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
The Civil Liberties Organisation condemned the decision...
The Civil Liberties Organisation condemned the decision of the Federal Government to apply the death penalty to persons who vandalise NEPA installations and oil pipelines
- NOVEMBER 28, 2000NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
The Nigerian Government unfolded its plan to reintroduce...
The Nigerian Government unfolded its plan to reintroduce the death penalty for those found guilty of engaging in the vandalisation of public utilities, including the properties of the National Electric Power Authority (NEPA)
- SEPTEMBER 9, 2000NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
Saudi Arabia executed a Nigerian man for trying to...
Saudi Arabia executed a Nigerian man for trying to smuggle cocaine into the country
- AUGUST 28, 2000NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
Saudi Arabia executed a Nigerian man convicted of drug...
Saudi Arabia executed a Nigerian man convicted of drug smuggling
- AUGUST 2, 2000NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
At a press conference in Lagos the Chairman and Chief...
At a press conference in Lagos the Chairman and Chief Executive of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, Mr Ihya D
- JULY 14, 2000NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
It was revealed by the Post Express that a total of...
It was revealed by the Post Express that a total of 72 Nigerians were executed by the Saudi Arabian government in the past eight years on charges of drug smuggling and armed robbery
- JUNE 19, 2000NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
A Nigerian man had his hand amputated in Saudi Arabia...
A Nigerian man had his hand amputated in Saudi Arabia for pickpocketing
- MAY 30, 2000NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
Saudi Arabia executed a Nigerian in Jeddah for smuggling...
Saudi Arabia executed a Nigerian in Jeddah for smuggling an unspecified quantity of cocaine into the kingdom
- MAY 13, 2000NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
Seven Nigerians were executed and three had limbs amputated...
Seven Nigerians were executed and three had limbs amputated in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, after being convicted of bank robbery and assault
- MAY 8, 2000NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
Former military governor of Kaduna State, Col
Former military governor of Kaduna State, Col
- APRIL 26, 2000NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
Nigeria voted against the resolution on the death penalty...
Nigeria voted against the resolution on the death penalty approved by the UN Commission on Human Rights on April 26 (no
- APRIL 23, 2000NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
Thousands of people gathered in Nigeria's Niger Delta...
Thousands of people gathered in Nigeria's Niger Delta for the symbolic reburial of the writer Ken Saro-Wiwa, whose execution by the military government in 1995 aroused worldwide condemnation
- MARCH 22, 2000NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
Buba Bello Kare Garke Jangebe, a Moslem man described...
Buba Bello Kare Garke Jangebe, a Moslem man described as a notorious cow thief, had his right hand chopped off from the wrist