Nigeria: Death Penalty - Foreign Missions Applaud Nigeria's Abolitionist Shift

What the report says

Foreign missions and justice-sector stakeholders have praised Nigeria’s long pause in state executions, even as the country’s death row population continues to rise. According to the Vanguard report republished by AllAfrica, officials speaking at an event marking the 2026 World Day Against the Death Penalty in Nigeria pointed to 10 consecutive years without an execution and urged the government to turn that de facto pause into a formal moratorium.

The Nigerian Correctional Service said 4,329 people are currently awaiting execution in custodial facilities nationwide, including more than 82 women. The event was organised by the National Human Rights Commission and Avocats Sans Frontières France, with support from the Australian High Commission, the German Embassy and the Spanish Embassy. Participants called for executions to remain suspended and for existing death sentences to be reduced to life imprisonment. The Nigerian Human Rights Commission also cited constitutional and statutory avenues that could allow governors, and in some cases the president, to commute sentences.

The report says Nigeria’s last execution took place in December 2016 in Edo State. Human rights groups have long argued that capital punishment raises fair-trial and irreversible-error concerns, while Nigeria’s courts have previously upheld the legality of the penalty under the constitution. The article also places Nigeria in a wider African context, noting that many AU member states have abolished the death penalty in law, while others maintain moratoriums.

German, Australian and Spanish envoys used the occasion to restate opposition to capital punishment, saying the country’s 10-year non-execution streak is a milestone that should lead to further reform.