Amnesty International has urged the federal and state governments to abolish the death penalty.

Barbara Magaji, the organisation’s programmes manager, made the call during a stakeholders dialogue to commemorate the World Day Against Death Penalty.

The programme was organised by Amnesty in collaboration with the French embassy in Nigeria on Thursday in Abuja.

Ms Magaji stressed the need to remove all provisions in national and state laws that violate international human rights law, especially provisions that allow the death penalty.

She also urged the government to ensure that the criminal justice system was sufficiently resourced and capable of investigating crimes effectively. Ms Magaji added that the law should be able to support victims and guarantee fair trials without recourse to the death penalty.

According to her, the federal government should, through the National Assembly, consider abolishing the death penalty for all crimes during the ongoing Nigerian Constitutional Amendment process.

“This is because there is no convincing evidence that the death penalty has a unique deterrent effect on crimes. In Nigeria presently, 26 states and the FCT have introduced or amended existing laws prescribing the death penalty for kidnapping, banditry, cattle rustling, and cultism,” Ms Magaji stated. “In spite of the introduction of the death penalty, the country continues to record an increase in banditry, abduction, and general criminality.”

Ms Magaji noted that the Amnesty International research on the violence and killings in Nigeria showed an increase in general insecurity, unlawful killings, and kidnappings for ransom.

“This is in spite of the introduction of the death penalty for crimes of banditry, kidnapping, cattle rustling, and cultism. Our documentation of insecurity in 2024 indicates that there have been over 181 incidents resulting in extra-judicial killings arising from banditry/terrorism, urban crime, and herdsmen farmers’ conflict and SGBV. This has led to over 3169 deaths. In 2024, 881 people were kidnapped. In 2025, there were 2313 deaths arising from 204 insecurity incidents, with some situations resulting in the kidnapping of 1025 people,” she said.

Mr Magaji explained that the rising insecurity in Nigeria was a combination of several factors affecting society at various levels, from the national to the community level. She added that the underlying causes of insecurity needed to be addressed broadly, and a comprehensive crime prevention mechanism deployed, rather than the quick fix approach that was ineffective.

She said that Amnesty International was opposed to the death penalty in all cases.

“Amnesty International considers that death penalty violates the right to life as enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights. The death penalty is often imposed after a grossly unfair trial. But even when trials respect international standards of fairness, the risk of executing the innocent can never be fully eliminated.

“The death penalty will inevitably claim innocent victims, as has been persistently demonstrated. The trend towards abolition of the death penalty is clear. In opposing the death penalty, Amnesty International is in no way seeking to condone the crimes for which those sentenced to death were convicted,” Ms Magaji added.

She noted that Amnesty International acknowledged fully the suffering of victims of violent crime and their families and recognised the duty of governments to protect their rights.

“Amnesty International also believed that people found guilty following a trial that met international fair trial standards should be held accountable but without recourse to the death penalty,” she said.

According to her, presently, 143 countries have now abolished the death penalty in law or practice.

(NAN)