United Kingdom-based Amnesty International has commended Kaduna state Governor, Alhaji Mukhtar Ramalan Yero, for releasing a man, Mr. ThankGod Ebhos, who had been in prison for 19 years having been sentenced to death by firing squad.
The organisation’s Africa Director, Research and Advocacy, Netsanet Belay, in a statement expressed satisfaction and hope for other prisoners on death row.
The statement said: “The release of a man who spent 19 years on death row in Nigeria and was seconds away from execution last year painfully illustrates the inherent brutality and unfairness of the death penalty, said Amnesty International today. ThankGod Ebhos was released under an order issued by the governor of Kaduna state based on his age. He had been tried and sentenced to death by a military tribunal in Kaduna in May 1995, accused of an armed robbery that had taken place in 1988.
“Amnesty International raised questions about the fairness of military tribunals in Nigeria at the time. The release of ThankGod Ebhos brings great hope to the many hundreds who are languishing on death row across Nigeria. ThankGod’s long ordeal shows that the death penalty has no place in the 21st century.”
“Nigeria must build on the positive step taken today, immediately halt plans to carry out any more executions and move towards abolishing the death penalty once and for all. Killing inmates is not an effective way to deal with crime.”
On June 24, 2013, ThankGod was seconds away from execution, when officers at Benin Prison took him to the gallows, forced him to watch four men being hanged and told him he was next. The execution was halted when prison authorities realised that his death sentence required it to be carried out by firing squad, which the prison was not prepared for. The other four men were executed despite an appeal pending on their cases.”
The governor signed the release in exercise of his power of Prerogative of Mercy as outlined under Section 212 of the Nigerian Constitution.
