Abstract

A Death Penalty is a form of punishment known all over the world as punishment for certain categories of offences. It is used as punishment for the most heinous crimes against humanity or the State. The Nigerian Criminal Justice system recognises ‘Death Sentence’ as a form of punishment. The Criminal Code and Penal Code Laws of the various States in Nigeria prescribe the sentence of death for crimes such as Murder and other grave offences. Incidentally, of late, there has been sustained campaign all over the world and Nigeria for the abolition of the death penalty on the basis of its inhuman nature. The question this work seeks to answer is whether the death penalty is lawful in Nigeria and whether there is still the need to retain the death penalty in Nigeria as punishment considering the fact that this practice has been abolished in many jurisdictions and more particularly that death row inmates are rarely executed in Nigeria.

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