Governor Pardons Condemned Criminal 18 Years after Conviction

Following intensive advocacy efforts made by Avocats Sans Frontieres France (ASF France), the Governor of Kogi State, Captain Idris Wada, has granted amnesty to Mr. Lasisi Yusuf, a 67-year-old convict who had been on death row in Kaduna Prison for nearly 18 years.
A statement issued by ASF's Communications Officer, Esther Akpa  Eleojo Esther, said Lasisi, a Kogi State indigene, was arrested over charges of culpable homicide and was sentenced to death in 1996 by the High Court of Justice in the state.

He was transferred to Kaduna Prison in 1997 and had been on death row since then.
Lasisi’s case was taken up by ASF France through the medium of its Saving Lives (SALI) project targeted at promoting international standards on human rights in Nigeria generally and, the restrictive pronouncement of capital punishment and abolition of death penalty specifically.

Other detainees released from incarceration owing to the legal intervention of ASF France include Zuwaira Tukur, Fatima Haruna and Mohammed Isyaku, all of whom were also convicted of capital offences in Kaduna State.

The statement read: "Statistics collated for 2013 alone show that over 140 death sentences were handed down in Nigeria bringing the total figure of those on death row so far to approximately 1,200.

"A total of 140 detainees on death row in Nigeria are currently benefitting from the free legal services being offered by ASF France on the platform of the SALI project."
Reacting to the pardon, ASF's official,  Angela Uwandu, said: “What we are aiming for is the protection of the rights of humans whether they are inmates in prison or citizens on the street."

She commended Wada for the decision which she described as a sterling example for others who have such powers to emulate.

"ASF France is determined to continue its objective of contributing to the legislative and legal changes towards a restrictive application of capital punishment in Nigeria," she added.