A non-governmental, human rights organization, Amnesty International has released its annual global review of the death penalty.
According to the report, “at least 1,032 people were executed in 23 countries in 2016.
The report which was released on Tuesday, April 11, showed that Nigeria now leads Sub-Saharan Africa, with 527 cases of death penalty within one year, an increase from 171 cases recorded in 2015. This figure represents 208% increase.
Nigeria was ranked second in the world after China in recorded death sentences in 2016.
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China topped the list of countries in the world with the largest number of death penalties and executions. However, the true extent of the use of the death penalty in China is unknown as this data is considered a state secret.
The global figure of at least 1,032 executed in 2016 excludes the thousands of executions believed to have been carried out in China.
China is believed to have executed more than all other countries in the world put together, while the USA reached a historic low in its use of the death penalty in 2016.
NAIJ.com brings you a list of the countries in the world with the largest number of death sentences in 2016 according to Amnesty International
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1. China
2. Nigeria 527
3. Pakistan 360+
4. Bangladesh 245+
5. Egypt 237+
6. Thailand 216
7. Cameroon 160+
8. Iraq 145+
9. India 136
10. Lebanon 126
11. Zambia 101
12. Democratic Republic of Congo 93+
13. Sri Lanka 79+
14. Viet Nam 63+
15. Indonesia 60+
16. Somalia 60
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The report stated: “Information provided by the Nigerian Prisons Service to Amnesty International showed that 527 people were sentenced to death in 2016.
“The Nigerian Prisons Service also reported that 33 were granted pardon, 32 death row prisoners were exonerated and 1,979 people were on death row, including five foreign nationals. During the year, a total of 105 death sentences were commuted.”
In the video below, the family of a petty trader killed by stray bullet fired by a policeman is crying for justice.
