LEDAP hosts judicial editors to news feast, reviews activities
Legal Defence and Assistance Project (LEDAP) has reviewed its activities over the years in line with its set objectives to let the public know and appraise its relevance in the human rights community and the society at large.
In an interactive session with the national coordinator of the group, Mr Chino Obiagwu said LEDAP is a people’s defender by reaching out to the international communities to notify them when crimes against humanity occur.
On death penalty, Obiagwu said his organisation has been on the fore front in serious campaign to abolish death penalty throughout the world. According to him this year’s commemoration of the world day against death penalty held in October 10, 2017 was again used to intensify the campaign against this global menace.
In Nigeria he said, the lifestyle of those on death row is nothing to write home about. “To see them in prison the officials bring them in chains thereby allowing them to slowly die psychologically, spiritually and physically. To make matters worse, each inmate is given a bottle water to bath in the same position he sits in chains with others.
He also painted a picture of poor feeding practice whereby persons condemned to death are given only beans without pepper, oil or salt. To make matters worse, each inmate is given bottle water to bath in the same position he sits in chains with others. Obiagwu in condemning the deplorable living conditions of inmates on death row, called on the authorities to abolish the death penalty.
His words: “As the world marked the World Day against the use of the Death Penalty with the theme: “Poverty and the death penalty” LEDAP reaffirms its position that the abolition of death penalty in law and practice should be the firm desire of the Nigerian government as death penalty is cruel and inhumane treatment, which has no place in modern society. LEDAP contends that the application of death penalty is discriminatory in Nigeria as it has become a punishment exclusive to the poor in society.
LEDAP is continually in legal battle with the federal and state governments in its quest to ensure that fundamental rights of citizens are safe-guarded and death penalty is abolished. Currently LEDAP has at least three actions in court where it is challenging the imposition of death sentences and the proposal of the federal and state governments to execute death row inmates. LEDAP urges state governors not to sign any death warrants as it constitutes state murder. With high number of criminal convictions overturned on appeal, continued execution is risky as innocent people may be wrongfully killed.
“LEDAP strongly believe that in its practical application, death penalty is discriminatory as there is hardly any rich or influential person in society who is sentenced to death. LEDAP contends that the reason for the discriminatory outlook is due to the fact that the rich have the resources to settle the police or afford the best lawyers who ensure they are not convicted. LEDAP therefore takes the commemoration of the World Day Against Death Penalty, to re-live the experiences of the inmates saved from the gallows, inviting freed former death row inmates to tell their stories in a media parley. It is LEDAP’s conclusion that poverty is a common factor to all prisoners on death row in Nigeria.
LEDAP beckons on the Government to ensure that it gives life rather than exercise eagerness in taking it away while it condemns the recommendation that prisoners on death row be executed as a means of decongesting the prison. LEDAP believes that the government has a duty to protect the sanctity of human life rather than supervising its termination and recommends a moratorium law be passed against executions in Nigeria”.
Giving statistics Obiagwu said Nigeria has about 142 prisons, 60,000 prisoners and that 660 Nigerians are on death
row in South East Asia alone. He said that his group has through the court rescued about 18 inmates on death row for the past five years. This year alone three inmates have been delivered from the hang man’s nooze
On jumbo pension which ex-governors assigned to themselves through their various state assemblies, the national coordinator of LEDAP said: “We are in a battle to proscribe the Governors Pension Law. We went to court to challenge states for creating bogus pensions for past governors”.
He stated that LEDAP also went to court to ask government to make primary and junior secondary education free and compulsory. On the strength of that the National Assembly passed an Act making primary education free and compulsory and junior secondary education free. As he put it the court has delivered judgment in favour of free and compulsory primary and junior secondary education.
Ibe Uwaleke
