A Non-Governmental organisation, the Coalition Against Corrupt Leaders, has rejected calls seeking capital punishment for public officials found guilty of corruption.
The President of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Mr. Ayuba Wabba, and his counterpart in the Trade Union Congress, Mr. Bobboi Kaigama, had jointly called for death penalty for criminals convicted of corruption crimes and embarked on a rally on September 10 to this effect.
But the Chairman of CACOL, Mr. Debo Adeniran, told our correspondent that such calls contravened the right to life, which he described as the most basic of human rights.He said, “We should recognise the sanctity of life. “It should not be taken for whatever reason since we believe that every offender can change for good. We should not also assume that the trial judge that condemned the offender could not have made a mistake.
Executive Chairman, CACOL, Mr. Debo Adeniran
“At that level, we should think twice that the death penalty is an irreversible punishment and if we think otherwise, then it wouldn’t be possible to reverse it.”
He explained that if a person was found guilty of heinous crimes, death penalty was not the solution, adding that the best solution would be to “put them behind bars forever.”
“Death penalty is no longer fashionable or acceptable all over the world. It is the worst violation of human rights that any state could mete out on its citizens,” Adeniran noted.
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