LAGOS, FALANA AND FATE OF REV. KING

My attention has been drawn to the raging controversy on whether it is constitutionally legal for the execution of condemned inmates on death row. This controversy, from my findings, was ignited from a statement credited the Lagos State Attorney General, Mr Adeniji Kazeem who during a press conference was alleged to have stated that the state government had taken a decision to go ahead with the execution of inmates on death row in Lagos prisons.

However, from my personal finding from all newspaper reports, emanating from the said press conference there was no evidence of where he categorically stated that a decision has been taken by the state government to execute Rev. King and other prisoners on death row in Lagos prisons.

The Punch Newspaper of April 19, 2017 carried the report with the heading: “Death Sentence: Lagos Decides Rev. King, Others’ Fate Soon.” I quote: “The Lagos State Attorney General/Commissioner for Justice, Mr Adeniji Kazeem, has said the state will soon decide the fate of the founder of Christian Praying Assembly, Chukwuemeka Ezeugo, popularly known as Rev. King and other prisoners on death row in the state.”

Going by this report, and those of other newspapers, I am still at a loss as to why this harmless statement reported to have been made by the Lagos Attorney General should have become an issue of controversy in the first instance. However, since I am not holding brief for the Attorney General as to whether he said what was alleged to him or not, I am more concerned with the legal interpretation of the constitutional provision that has been argued by my respected learned silk, Mr. Femi Falana in his reported letter to the Governor of Lagos State, Mr Akinwunmi Ambode, in the Punch Newspaper of April 21, 2017 with the headline: “You Can’t Execute Rev. King, Others”.

In his reported letter to Governor Ambode, Mr. Falana had argued that the planned execution of death row inmates in the state would violate a subsisting judgment delivered by Justice Mufutau Olokooba of the Lagos State High Court on June 29, 2012, which ruled that it was illegal and unconstitutional, and a violation of Section 34(1)(a) of the constitution which prescribed death by hanging and firing squad amounts to a violation of the condemned inmate’s right to the dignity of human person and amount to inhuman and degrading treatment and it is consequently unconstitutional.

Unarguably, Section 33 (1) of the 1999 Constitution guarantees the right to life of every person. The provision of the section however permits the deprivation of life of any person in the execution of the sentence of a court of law in respect of a criminal offence for which he has been found guilty in Nigeria. This was extensively considered by the Supreme Court (sitting as a Constitutional Court) in the case of Onuoha Kalu V. The State (1988) 11-12 S.C. 4. where it was held that death sentence was not unconstitutional and that to argue otherwise will be tantamount to embarking on an exercise aimed at defeating the clear provisions of the constitution.

Further in the judgment, Iguh also considered whether death penalty amounted to torture, inhuman and degrading treatment and gave in-depth consideration to the constitutions of some other countries including that of the United States of America. His lordship made the point that in the jurisdictions where death sentence had been held to be constitutionally invalid, it was because the right to life as provided for, under their constitutions was unqualified.

The Supreme Court has in a plethora of authorities affirmed the judgments of a number of lower courts for the offences of death and has pronounced on the mode of execution. In particular, the Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the Court of Appeal in the case of ChukwuemekaEzeogu vs. State (2016) LPELR – 40046 SC, which similarly affirmed the decision of the High Court which stated thus:

“In respect of count six, the sentence of this court upon you ChukwuemekaEzeukoAlias Dr. Rev King is that you be hanged by the neck until you be dead and may the Lord have mercy on your soul.”

The decision of Olokooba J. as highlighted in the case of Ajulu & Ors. V. Attorney General of Lagos State (unreported) Suit No. ID/76M/2008 of June 29, 2012 is therefore belated and lacks merit when viewed against the Supreme Court judgment in the above stated case. The position of the law is clear and unambiguous as to the finality of the decision of the Supreme Court. In the Supreme Court, the decision of that court in so far as that case is concerned is final for all ages and final for ever. Only legislation can alter it.

Therefore, in the absence of any legislation directing otherwise, the state will do well to abide by the decision of the Supreme Court in its entirety. This is purely a legal stand and should not be compromised by emotion and all other such needless considerations. David Izorite, Lagos