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NIGERIA
‘WAITING FOR THE HANGMAN’
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Most of the death row prisons have a hospital, but these usually lack drugs and mosquito
nets. Amnesty International and LEDAP interviewed many inmates who were ill. Most
prisoners said they could not afford to pay for the medicines they needed. In some
prisons, inmates said that they could not afford to go to the clinic, because they needed
to bribe the warden.
MENTAL HEALTH: CONSTANT TRAUMA
“Life on death row is terrible, each time you don’t know what tomorrow will be like.”
A former death row prisoner
Many death row prisoners have developed mental illness during their long stay in prison
and on death row. One former death row prisoner who spent 11 years on death row said:
“I’ve dreamt I was hanged, that I was killed.” Another who is still on death row: “I have fear.
I don’t even take my today’s breakfast because of that fear.” 97
Monitors from the National Human Rights Commission noted when they visited death row
cells: “They were in constant trauma expecting their executioners any time a visitor came
to the cell.” 98
When the hangman comes to the prison to prepare the gallows, all death row prisoners
know an execution is scheduled. A lawyer explained: “If they plan to execute a prisoner
the hangman will come to the prison the day before, to wash the gallows. The inmates will
get the information. They know there will be an execution the day after.” 99
Former death row inmates confirmed that they tried to find out who would be next. Arthur
Angel remembered: “We would ask the warders, from which state is the person, what is the
crime, how long ago. They would tell us little by little and so we could find out.” 100
The cells closest to the gallows are called execution cells, meant for prisoners who
have exhausted all possible appeals. From these cells, prisoners can see the executions,
as Angel recalled: “I spent two years on execution cell and I watched the executions
live. The wardens sometimes did not have enough courage to watch. It is only the
hangman that does the job. The hangman will be there watching until the rope or
the person stops shaking. That is when the person has died. Once he has finished,
they will call for the doctor.” 101
Another former death row prisoner recalls: “Once they have taken away the body, they will ask
other death row prisoners to clean the gallows.”
The stress death row inmates are under clearly harms their mental well-being. Amnesty
International and LEDAP observed many prisoners on death row suffering from mental
illnesses. Prisons do not have the facilities or funds to adequately treat the inmates; nor can
they take away the stress of being on death row.
Index: AFR 44/020/2008 Amnesty International October 2008