on Monday that the inmates might have been executed and pleaded with
the governor to spare their lives and allow their appeal to go through
the judicial process.
Back home, a coalition of human rights groups and lawyers met in Abuja
for several hours, Tuesday, brainstorming on how best to convince
Oshiomhole to rescind his execution
order and give the two condemned men another chance to live.
The crucial meeting, which was convened by lawyers under the auspices
of Prison Reforms and Decongestion Initiative, met with officials of
the National Human Rights Commission, NHRC, in Abuja and considered
options available to save the lives of the two embattled men.
Consequently, the group decided to send a letter to the Edo State
Governor, pleading with him to temper justice with mercy by
withdrawing the execution warrant in respect of the two men already
condemned to death.
Additionally, they decided to meet the Attorney General of the
Federation, Mohammed Adoke, to intervene and halt the execution of the
two men, since Nigeria had an existing moratorium on non-execution of
death row prisoners.
The team was also to meet with the Comptroller General of the Nigerian
Prisons last night to also seek his cooperation and understanding in
preserving the lives of the two men pending the hearing and
determination of an appeal filed by them against their execution.
But a senior prisons official who was at the meeting, said the team
needed to act fast since the governor had the right under Nigerian law
to sign a death warrant before an inmate is released by for execution.
The groups decided to send an emissary to Oshiomhole to plead further
with him and to apologise over certain issues relating to the inmates,
which the governor is said to have taken exception to.
The governor had defended his decision to kill the two men and spare
the lives of five others who were presented to him, pointing out that
they did not deserve to live given the gravity of their bestial acts
against their victims.