ECOWAS court restrains Nigeria from death penalty execution – Adoke

Speaking during a visit by the United Nations High Commissioner on Human Rights Navi Pillay in Abuja yesterday, Adoke said Nigeria would respect the ECOWAS Court order, while efforts were on to reconsider the country’s position on death sentence.
Adoke who noted the concerns of international community on the death penalty laws in Nigeria said: “the issue of death penalty is sensitive in Nigeria, especially taking into account the federal nature of the country. Government will take a position as to whether to remove it or not from our statute books after due consultations with the broad spectrum of Nigerian populace.
“Both the Criminal and Penal Codes of the various States provide death sentence for any person who commits murder or culpable homicide and therefore, death penalty is a valid part of Nigerian Law,” he said.
Adoke also told the UN High Commissioner that there was no going back on the recently enacted law, banning same sex marriage in the country.
“I wish to re-emphasise that our laws do not criminalize individual sexual orientation. The focus of the Act is therefore discouragement of same-sex marriage which is a reflection of the overwhelming beliefs and cultural values of the Nigerian people as demonstrated by a 2013 Opinion Poll which showed that 92 percent of Nigerians reject same-sex marriage,” he said.