FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA：
RELEASED AFTER 19 YEARS ON DEATH ROW

Thankgod Ebhos was released after the signing of a release order by the Governor of Kaduna State. He had been on death row in southern Nigeria’s Edo State since 1995.

Thankgod Ebhos was released on 24 October after 19 years on death row. Following Nigeria’s Independence Day celebrations on 1 October, the Governor of Kaduna State announced that he signed a release order for Thankgod Ebhos in exercise of his power of Prerogative of Mercy under section 212 of the Nigerian constitution.

Thankgod Ebhos was sentenced to death by firing squad by a military tribunal in Kaduna in 1995 and thereafter detained in Benin Prison in Edo State. He was at risk of execution when four other death row inmates were executed by hanging on 24 June 2013, ruling against an appeal made by two NGOs - Human Rights, Social Development and Environmental Foundation (HURSDEF) and Legal Defence and Assistance Project (LEDAP). According to the Edo State Attorney General, Thankgod Ebhos was not hanged because the military tribunal had ruled he should be executed by firing squad. 

An injunction was immediately filed at the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Community Court of Justice. A final judgment was delivered on 10 June 2014 ordering Thankgod Ebhos’ name to be removed from the death row list. 

Thankgod Ebhos was reunited with his family shortly after his release and is reported to be happy and well.

No further action is requested from the UA network. Many thanks to all who sent appeals. 

This is the second update of UA 137/13. Further information: http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/AFR44/010/2013/en

Name: Thankgod Ebhos

Gender m/f: m

Further information on UA: 137/13 Index: AFR 44/028/2014 Issue Date: 28 October 2014