On the evening of Thursday, May 9, the Nigerian Senate proposed through an amendment to bring into force the death penalty in cases of conviction for drug trafficking. It would become the maximum penalty instead of life imprisonment.
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Tramadol, heroin, cocaine… for years, Nigeria has been facing an explosion in drug trafficking. Sentencing to the ultimate sentence to deter, this is the argument displayed by the Senate. A rhetoric that Isa Sanusi, representative of Amnesty International in Nigeria, fights against: “ We believe that the Nigerian Senate should find a better way to combat drug trafficking. The death penalty has never reduced crime. We need to look at the social and economic reasons and know why people become drug traffickers before considering drastic measures. »
“ Nigeria should remove the death penalty from its law »
In addition to drug trafficking, the death penalty is already in force in the country for sanctions relating to terrorism or homosexuality, but in fact, no convict has been executed since 2016. status quo insufficient for the human rights activist: “ Even though executions do not actually occur, Nigeria has one of the highest rates of death sentences. We believe that even the convictions should not take place. Nigeria should remove the death penalty from its law, its sanctions, its civil code. He should follow the league of abolitionist countries. »
As for the bill relating to drug trafficking, if the Senate decided favorably, the House of Representatives voted for the text without this provision. The two chambers will therefore have to harmonize the text, before submitting it to the president. Enough to maintain doubt about the expansion or not of capital punishment in Nigeria.
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