Mrs Abike Dabiri-Erewa, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Foreign Affairs and Diaspora, has described as “heartbreaking”, the sentencing to death of a Nigerian in Singapore for drug related offences Dabiri-Erewa said this in a statement she issued on Friday in Abuja through her Special Assistant on Media, Mr Abdur-Rahman Balogun. She recalled that the Nigerian, Chijoke Obioha, 35, was caught in Singapore trafficking in hard drugs on April 9, 2007, with his execution slated for Friday, Nov. 18. Obioha was arrested with more than 2.6 kilogrammes of cannabis. Dabiri-Erewa said Obioha’s family was informed that his appeal for clemency had been rejected. She described the sentence as disturbing despite repeated calls for Nigerians to desist from criminal activities such as drug peddling. Dabiri-Erewa said there was nothing much that could be done other than to continue to appeal to the Singaporean authorities for clemency. “Since Singapore is determined to enforce its laws as a deterrent to drug trafficking, which has reduced due to capital punishment, nothing much can be done except to continue to appeal. “While we regret the death sentence passed on the Nigerian, we once again appeal to Nigerians to avoid crimes like drug trafficking, especially in Asia which has been declared zero tolerance.’’ She urged Nigerians to avoid drug peddling in their host countries as laws of countries, “no matter its merits, will be difficult to influence’’. Meanwhile, Amnesty International has also called on Singapore to immediately halt Friday’s planned execution of Obioha. Rafendi Djamin, Amnesty International’s Director for South-East Asia and the Pacific said, “the Singapore Government still has time to halt the execution of Chijoke Stephen Obioha. “We are dismayed that clemency has not been granted in his case. “But we remain hopeful that they won’t carry out this cruel and irreversible punishment against a person sentenced to the mandatory death penalty for a crime that should not even be punished by death. “The death penalty is never the solution. It will not rid Singapore of drugs. “By executing people for drug-related offences, which do not meet the threshold of most serious crimes, Singapore is violating international law. “Under Singaporean law, when there is a presumption of drug possession and trafficking, the burden of proof shifts from the prosecutor to the defendant.” According to the Amnesty director, this violates the right to a fair trial by turning the concept of presumption of innocence on its head. “Drug-related offences do not meet the threshold of the “most serious crimes” to which the use of the death penalty must be restricted under international law. “International law also prohibits the imposition of the death penalty as a mandatory punishment and Amnesty International opposes the use of the death penalty outright, regardless of the crime,” he said. (NAN)
