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
- FEBRUARY 10, 2000NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
Former Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Mohammed Bello,...
Former Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Mohammed Bello, said that the introduction of full Sharia in any state of the country is unconstitutional, adding the adoption of Sharia would inflict capital punishment on its citizens without written law
- JANUARY 27, 2000NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
The Federal Government warned that it would invoke...
The Federal Government warned that it would invoke the death penalty or a 21-year jail term on hoarders of petroleum products
- JANUARY 4, 2000NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
The Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo granted a...
The Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo granted a pardon to convicts waiting more than 20 years for execution
- JANUARY 1, 2000NigeriaDEATH 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, 2000NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
The northern Nigerian states of Zamfara and Sokoto...
The northern Nigerian states of Zamfara and Sokoto have adopted Islamic sharia law in October 1999
- DECEMBER 1, 1999NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
In December, the Nigerian state was beginning to act...
In December, the Nigerian state was beginning to act against officials of previous regimes, responsible for crimes over a 13-year period
- NOVEMBER 23, 1999NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
On November 23, Nigeria's former Army Chief Of Staff, Lt
On November 23, Nigeria's former Army Chief Of Staff, Lt
- NOVEMBER 1, 1999NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
President Olusegun Obasanjo advocates the abolition...
President Olusegun Obasanjo advocates the abolition of capital punishment in a book, published in November, entitled This Animal called Man, which is replete with stories told to Obasanjo in detention by Nigerians falsely accused and jailed or later kille
- OCTOBER 14, 1999NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
On October 14, Mohammed Abacha, 32, was charged along...
On October 14, Mohammed Abacha, 32, was charged along with his father's personal security chief, Maj
- SEPTEMBER 27, 1999NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
On September 27, Nigeria protested to Saudi Arabia...
On September 27, Nigeria protested to Saudi Arabia over the Kingdom's execution of Nigerians, mostly convicted of possessing drugs, without informing the Nigerian Government in advance
- SEPTEMBER 4, 1999NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
On September 4, Safra Onaibi Slami, a Nigerian woman...
On September 4, Safra Onaibi Slami, a Nigerian woman convicted of drug trafficking, was beheaded in Jeddah
- AUGUST 13, 1999NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
On August 13, Ibrahim Mohammad Ali, a Nigerian national,...
On August 13, Ibrahim Mohammad Ali, a Nigerian national, was executed in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia for smuggling heroin into the Kingdom
- JULY 23, 1999NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
On July 23, a Nigerian national, identified as Idriss...
On July 23, a Nigerian national, identified as Idriss Aissa Muhammad, was beheaded in Jeddah Governorate, Mecca region of Saudi Arabia, after being found guilty of smuggling an unspecified quantity of heroin into the Kingdom
- JULY 22, 1999NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
Nigeria signed the letter, dated 22 July 1999, addressed...
Nigeria signed the letter, dated 22 July 1999, addressed to the President of the Economic and Social Council, in which the retentionist countries dissociated from the Commission on Human Rights resolution 1999/61 on the question of the death penalty
- JULY 16, 1999NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
On July 16, a Nigerian woman named Aisha Saada Qassem,...
On July 16, a Nigerian woman named Aisha Saada Qassem, convicted of smuggling cocaine and heroin, was executed in Saudi Arabia
- JUNE 25, 1999NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
On June 25, the Federal Court of Malaysia unanimously...
On June 25, the Federal Court of Malaysia unanimously affirmed the conviction of three Nigerians - Johnson Oshodi, 34, civil servant Tunde Apatira, 37, and businessman Oladotun Lukmanu Umaru, 37 - sentenced to death for trafficking in heroin 9 years ago
- JUNE 20, 1999NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
On June 20, a Nigerian named Abdullah Ibrahim Mohammed...
On June 20, a Nigerian named Abdullah Ibrahim Mohammed was executed in Saudi Arabia for armed robbery
- JUNE 1, 1999NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
In June, President Olusegun Obasanjo formed a 7-man...
In June, President Olusegun Obasanjo formed a 7-man panel, chaired by a retired Supreme Court Judge, Chukwudifu Oputa, to investigate abuses committed between 1994 and 1999 when thousands of perceived military opponents were either harassed, detained, jai
- APRIL 30, 1999NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
On April 30, Nigerian Al-Hassan Moussa Shahib was executed...
On April 30, Nigerian Al-Hassan Moussa Shahib was executed in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, for smuggling cocaine into the Kingdom
- APRIL 29, 1999NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
On April 29, the Commonwealth foreign ministers in...
On April 29, the Commonwealth foreign ministers in London adopted a recommendation to end the Nigeria's suspension from the 54-nation grouping of mainly former British colonies
- APRIL 28, 1999NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
On May 28, a Nigerian woman was beheaded in Mecca,...
On May 28, a Nigerian woman was beheaded in Mecca, Saudi Arabia for smuggling cocaine and heroin
- FEBRUARY 27, 1999NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
On February 27, former military ruler General Olusegun...
On February 27, former military ruler General Olusegun Obasanjo won the presidential elections that brought a democratic transition much closer
- JANUARY 1, 1999NigeriaDEATH 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, 1999NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
Since coming to power, President Obasanjo has ordered...
Since coming to power, President Obasanjo has ordered the release of thousands of people held for more than two years while awaiting trial