France, Australia and Avocats Sans Frontières France confirmed that they opposed the death penalty in Nigeria. The plea to abolish the death penalty was made at a 2023 World Day Against the Death Penalty event in Abuja.
Since the day was founded in 2002, according to France’s ambassador to Nigeria, Emmanuelle Blatmann, France has always taken the chance to promote the universal abolition of the death penalty in all international forums. She emphasised that the death penalty is still legal in 53 nations, including Nigeria.
Additionally, Blatmann presented some troubling data. Amnesty International noted 2,016 executions in 52 nations in 2022. At least 883 executions occurred in 20 nations in 2022, which represents a regrettable 53% increase from 2021.
Blatmann’s opinions were mirrored by Leann Johnston, Charge d’ Affaires of the Australian High Commissioner to Nigeria. According to Johnston, Australia is against the death sentence for everyone and in all situations and is in favour of its outright elimination. She mentioned that 3,300 people in Nigeria on death row are living with this sentence every day, not just them but also their families.
Johnston asked the government of Nigeria to formally abolish the death penalty and establish a moratorium on executions. She voiced her happiness at the death penalty being abolished in Sierra Leone in 2021, the Central African Republic in 2022, and Ghana in 2023.
The country director of Lawyers Without Borders in France, Angela Uzoma-Iwuchukwu, claimed that the death sentence does not deter crime, does not give the possibility of rehabilitation, and is irreversible in cases of injustice.
These declarations from France and Australia reflect a global trend away from the death penalty and put pressure on nations like Nigeria to reevaluate their position.