820 prisoners on death row sue state governors and the comptroller-general of prisons

… because the governors plan to start signing execution warrants of those sentenced to death –  as a way to decongest prisons.

The announcement, according to the prisoners, had caused them great shock, anxiety and trauma and they, therefore, want the court to stop any planned execution because it would be cruel and inhuman to kill them after such trauma.

They also want the court to intervene to save their lives because some of them have cases in court challenging their conviction and sentences, and in some cases, challenging the mandatory provisions of the criminal law under which they were sentenced.

The death row inmates, through their counsel, Mr. Chino Obiagwu, who is also the national coordinator of Legal Defence and Assistance Project, LEDAP, are asking the court for leave to sue in representative capacity for themselves and on behalf of all prisoners on the death row in Nigerian prisons.

See the story here.

You can see more from LEDAP, the NGO, here. The decision was covered by PRI’s The World last month.