Constitutionality or Otherwise of Death Penalty Enforcement in Nigeria

This paper appraises the constitutionality of death penalty enforcement in Nigeria. The six common methods of enforcing death penalty are reviewed while highlighting the tortuous and humiliating nature of death penalty enforcement. A distinction was made between the imposition of death penalty and the actual enforcement of same. In making this distinction, the concession was made that the imposition of death penalty in itself may not be considered unconstitutional. However, the same cannot be said of the enforcement of the death penalty. The two popular methods used in enforcing death penalty in Nigeria, hanging and firing squad, were shown to involve torture. They are also inhuman and degrading. Based on these findings, the conclusion was reached that the enforcement of death penalty in Nigeria is unconstitutional. A conclusion that was further strengthened by a consideration of the negative backlash relatives of a condemned prisoner suffer as a result. Beyond psychological torture the relatives of a condemned prisoner suffer, they could have their personal liberty encroached upon. Therefore, death penalty enforcement in Nigeria can be said to be grossly unconstitutional both from the point of view of condemned prisoners and from the point of view of relatives of condemned prisoners.