Nigerian death row convict, Chijoke Stephen Obioha was executed in Singapore early this morning, after the Court of Appeal dismissed an Urgent Criminal Motion filed by his lawyer, Mr Joseph Chen, yesterday.
The Singapore Anti-Death Penalty Campaign member, Mr Ravi, who is assisting Mr Joseph with the research for the case, took to his Facebook page an hour ago to announce the news.
"This morning, at 6am, the execution of Chijioke Stephen Obioha took place. I am not even sure if his family from Nigeria were able to attend. Soon it will be all forgotten together with Chijioke’s name, but for the many of us who fight and campaign to eradicate this barbaric practice of death by hanging, and for those of us who challenge the mandatory death penalty for drug trafficking in Singapore, our work will go on. And it must."
In an update, Mr Ravi said that he is making arrangement with the Roman Catholic Prison Ministry to claim his body for proper burial today or tomorrow.
"Update: I'm currently arranging with the Roman Catholic Prison Ministry ( RCPM) to claim the body of Chijioke from the Singapore Prisons Service for a proper funeral in accordance with his religious beliefs.The funeral will take place either today or tomorrow depending on how soon the SPS could release the body.Will keep you posted"
Chijoke was first arrested in 2007 and sentenced to the Mandatory Death Penalty in 2008 after being found guilty of trafficking more than 2kg of Cannabis. His execution tomorrow will bring and end to possibly the longest delay between sentencing and execution. Chijoke has spent almost 8 years on death row and more than 9 years behind bars.
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