ASF France, an international human rights organization, has revealed that 82 Nigerian women are currently on death row across various correctional facilities in the country. The figure is reportedly one of the highest for women on death row in sub-Saharan Africa.

Angela Uzoma-Iwuchukwu, ASF France’s Country Director in Nigeria, spoke at a session on gender issues in capital punishment in Abuja, highlighting systemic gender biases in the justice system. She explained that women on death row often face discrimination from arrest to incarceration and are frequently victims of domestic violence whose circumstances are ignored during trials.

“They are tried for more than the crimes they committed. They are tried for being women who dared to commit crimes,” Uzoma-Iwuchukwu said.

She noted poverty and lack of access to quality legal representation as major contributors to the high number of women on death row. She cited the case of a young woman in Katsina State sentenced to death by stoning for becoming pregnant out of wedlock, whose sentence was later overturned by the Court of Appeal thanks to ASF France’s intervention.

Uzoma-Iwuchukwu called for a moratorium on executions and urged that women who have experienced gender-based violence be recognized as victims in sentencing.

Dr. Chioma Kanu, Executive Director of Mothers and Marginalized Advocacy Centre, emphasized the human cost, noting that families of death row inmates also suffer, and some inmates are wrongfully convicted due to coerced confessions or inability to afford legal counsel.

“We can release an innocent prisoner but we cannot wake the dead,” she said, stressing the need for justice and protection for victims and their families.