In an unprecedented turn of events, reprieve has eventually come the way of Thankgod Ebhos and Sunday Eze Onyeabor, two death row inmates formerly in Benin prison, following the signing of their release order by the governor of Kaduna State, Ramalan Yero.
The governor signed their release in exercise of his power of Prerogative of Mercy as outlined under Section 212 of the Nigerian Constitution. Ebhos is one of the nine prisoners whose release order was approved to commemorate Nigeria's 54th Independence Day celebration.
Onyeabor was sentenced to death in 1994 and had been on death row for 20 years, while Ebhos was sentenced to death by a military tribunal in 1995 and has been on death row for 19 years.
The duo, who have appeals pending at the Court of Appeal are beneficiaries of Avocats Sans Frontières France's Saving Lives (SALI) project initiated in 2011, which has since recorded the release of 48 inmates from prison.
Ebhos came into the limelight in June 2013 when he narrowly escaped execution alongside the famous four inmates of Benin prison after their death sentence warrants were signed by the Edo state government.
Ebhos, the fifth inmate, was actually taken to the gallows but was not hanged unlike the four who did not escape the hangman's noose.
The long winding road to Ebhos release, however, began with the intervention of the international human rights Organization, Avocats Sans Frontières France (ASF France) on the platform of their death penalty project, Saving Lives (SALI).
The pro bono team of SALI lawyers forestalled further threat of execution by immediately filing for an injunction at the ECOWAS community court of justice.
Source: allAfrica, October 20, 2014
