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Singapore to hang Nigerian
25/01/2007 08:28 - (SA)
Singapore - A 21-year-old Nigerian man was spending his last day of life on Thursday without a single relative or friend to comfort him ahead of his execution by hanging in a prison in Singapore.
Despite a clemency plea by Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, there was no word from the government of any change in the death sentence by hanging.
Tochi Amara Iwuchukwu, a promising footballer, was convicted of trafficking in 727g of heroin estimated to be worth 1.5m Singapore dollars ($970 000). He was arrested at Changi Airport after arriving from Dubai in November 2004.
Chee Siok Chin, one of two activists who launched a hunger strike early on Thursday in protest against the execution, said: "We understand Tochi comes from a poor family in Nigeria with no one able to afford the trip to see him for the last time."
'This is terribly sad'
She said her own request to visit him was denied by the prison department. She said: "I received a letter stipulating that such visits were only accorded to family. This is terribly sad."
Chee and lawyer M Ravi, both Singaporeans, planned to remain at the city-state's Speaker's Corner until nightfall, and later move with other sympathisers to the grounds outside the prison and remain until the execution.
Singapore did not announce the dates of hangings in advance. A letter from the prisons department to the family informed them of the date and said they would be allowed extra visiting time during the three days prior to the execution.
Only representatives of the Nigerian Embassy had showed up to offer any comfort. Hangings in the city-state were carried out at 06:00.
Under standard procedures, prisoners were handcuffed while led to the gallows. A hood was placed over the head and a noose around the neck before the opening of a trapdoor, snapping the spinal cord.
Death penalty 'mandatory'
The London-based Amnesty International called earlier for clemency, maintaining the judge who convicted the Nigerian appeared to have "accepted that he might not have realised that the substance he was carrying was heroin".
The death penalty was mandatory in the city-state for anyone caught with more than 15g of the drug, and Tochi's appeal for clemency to President SR Nathan failed last year.
The prison's department said execution was imposed in the most serious of crimes including drug trafficking, murder and use of firearms.
It added that hanging "sends a strong signal to would-be offenders".
The hunger strike was announced after Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo urged Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong to stop the hanging.
In Obasanjo's plea to Lee on Tuesday, he mentioned the excellent relations between the two countries.
Obasanjo said: "I earnestly urge you to reconsider the conviction ... and to commute the death sentence to imprisonment."
Chee said the execution was tantamount to "cold-blooded murder. If we remain silent, are we not accomplices?"
Sapa-dpa
- SAPA
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