Two alleged Nigerian kidnappers have been sentenced to death in Ghana
OpenLife Nigeria has learned that two alleged Nigerians have been sentenced to death by Sekondi High Court.
According to the information gathered, Samuel Udoetuk Wills, and John Oji have been found guilty of kidnapping and killing four Takoradi girls.
They have subsequently been sentenced to death by hanging and have been given 30 days within which they can appeal the sentence.
The duo were found guilty by the seven-member jury at the Sekondi High Court on Friday, March 5, 2021.
The High Court presided over by Justice Richard Adjei-Frimpong, a Court of Appeal Judge with additional responsibility as a High Court judge, gave the sentence after the 7-member jury found them guilty.
Meanwhile, human rights advocacy civil society body, Amnesty International has questioned the death penalty sentence dished out to the two convicted persons in the matter of the kidnapping and murder of the Takoradi girls.
Speaking, the Campaign Coordinator of Amnesty International Ghana, Samuel Abotsey questioned the country’s continuous reliance on the death penalty when it has actually never been executed since 1992.
“In Ghana, the law still permits the judges to make that pronouncement and so we cannot force the judges or the country but we believe that the continuous use of the death penalty is not the way to go because evidence has shown that there could be mistakes in evidence gathering, there could be mistakes in the investigation, the wrong people could be charged.”
Mr. Abotsey also added that it will be better to rely on life sentences or fixed-term sentences in case of fresh evidence affecting cases.
“There have been people that have been sentenced to death, some actually killed but fresh evidence showed that they were not guilty of that crime. So, our belief is that it is better for us to keep the people on the life sentence or a fixed-term sentence so that if there is fresh evidence emerging tomorrow, these people can be exonerated,” he stated.
Nigerians living in Ghana after the verdict flooded social media with a flurry of reactions after two of their compatriots.
Source: 24 Hours News update
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