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About 275 civil society organizations and networks working on drugs, health, human rights and justice issues in Nigeria have sent an Open Letter to President Bola Tinubu, urging him to “reject and ensure the removal of ‘Death Penalty for Drug Offences’ Passed Bill for an Act to amend the NDLEA Act, 2004 (HB.472).”
Signed on behalf of the 275 CSOs by Okereke Chinwike Esq., founder & CEO, African Law Foundation (AFRILAW), and Mrs Alao-Amiola Oluwafisayo, executive director of Youth Initiative For Drug Research Information Support And Education (YOUTHRISE), the letter is part of a national advocacy action by the civil society organisations and networks to mark the 2024 World Drug Day, which held globally on June 26.
The Nigeria Senate, on May 9, 2024, passed an amendment to the NDLEA Act Cap N30 of the Laws of the Federal of Nigeria 2004 approving and reintroducing death penalty as punishment for drug offence in Nigeria.
The proposed capital punishment also applies to the “cooking, preparation, trafficking, and dealing in or delivery of hard drugs by any means” in Nigeria.
According to Okereke and Alao-Amiola, “As a leading democratic nation in Africa, it is our strong opinion that the action of the National Assembly by enacting another ‘Militarized,’ ‘Fiercest’ and ‘Draconian’ Drug Law in Africa is very retrogressive and repressive, and should never be supported and accepted by you or the President.
“However, we all recognize that the world drug problem is complex and multifaceted and that the challenges posed by drugs have wide-ranging adverse impact on security, human rights and development.
“This underscore that the multifaceted nature of the problem requires a comprehensive approach that includes law enforcement efforts ensuring people’s security and efforts in promoting health, human rights, including equality and nondiscrimination, and sustainable development,” they said.
The CSOs therefore stressed that the Federal Government “should commit to promoting a truly evidence-based and balanced approach, whereby sufficient attention is given to measures that address the root causes of drug abuse and cultivation and other involvement in the drug trade,” arguing that the promotion and adoption of public health and human rights approaches to drug control response is the best global practice not reintroduction and imposition of a death penalty in the drug law of Nigeria.
“As stated by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, ‘death penalty should be abolished for all crimes, including for drug offences, and law enforcement in drug control efforts should be consistent with States’ human rights obligations.’ Also, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has also explicitly stated its opposition to the application of the death penalty for drug offences.
“In a 2010 Report, the UNODC Executive Director wrote that: ‘As an entity of the United Nations system, UNODC advocates the abolition of the death penalty and calls upon Member States to follow international standards concerning prohibition of the death penalty for offences of a drug-related or purely economic nature’.
“As stated in the Open Letter to Mr. President, that introduction of death penalty for drug offences in the Bill for an Act to amend the NDLEA Act, 2004 (HB.472) contradicts the ongoing implementation of Harm Reduction Program of the Federal Ministry of Health for persons who inject or dependent on drugs, as part of the public health response to the drug addressing drug related harm and the burden of HIV, Viral Hepatitis, Tuberculosis and Opioid Overdose management and prevention strategy,” Okereke and Alao-Amiola said.
They stressed that the enforcement of the bill if signed into law, “will have a great negative impact on the provision of drug treatment, rehabilitation and harm reduction services to dependent drug users due to fear of imprisonment. It will place a great and significant pressure on already over-burdened criminal justice system in Nigeria.
“People incarcerated for drug offenses account for a substantial percentage of prisoners in Nigeria, and this highly negate the purpose and goal of enactment and the implementation of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act 2015 by the Federal Ministry of Justice in advancing justice sector reform and addressing prison overcrowding and overincarceration, including alternatives to incarceration and applying the principle of proportionality.
“In this regard, the 275 Nigeria Civil Society Organizations and Networks are hereby appealing and requesting that Mr. President should as a matter of urgent public interest:
“1. Object, reject and ensure the removal of ‘Death Penalty For Drug Offences’ from the approved Bill for an Act to amend the NDLEA Act CAP, N30, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004 (HB.472);
“2. Not to assent to the bill for an Act to amend the NDLEA Act, CAP, N30, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004 (HB.472) without the removal of the ‘Death Penalty for Drug Offences’ by the National Assembly;
“3. Take action to abolish death penalty for all crimes and commuting all death sentences to terms of imprisonment in Nigeria including establishment of an Official Moratorium On Executions in Nigeria.
“4. Take action to ensure that criminal justice system for drug law enforcement is sufficiently resourced and capable of investigating crimes effectively including supporting victims and ensuring that drug offenders have a fair trial without recourse to the death penalty;
“5. Take action to reform and/or harmonize all Nigeria drug laws on the basis of existing and emerging minimum health and human rights standards, and advance drug policies that address social inequalities and root causes of drug related issues, as well as promote non-stigmatizing attitudes that deter access to drug treatment, rehabilitation and harm reduction services;
“6. Take action toward decriminalization of drug use and low-level non-violent drug offences as a means to reduce the enormous pressures on overburdened criminal justice systems and protect Nigeria citizens from further harms, and adoption of Alternatives to Imprisonment for low-level drug offences/offenders and people dependent on drugs; and
“7. Take action to ensure the integration and adoption of evidence-based, balanced, public health and human rights approaches to drug control and law enforcement in Nigeria.”
