Catholic, Anglican Churches Disagree On Death Penalty

There is a heated argument between the Catholic and Anglican Churches on the return of death penalty to Nigeria, for perpetrators of heinous crimes.

While the Catholic Church believes that such perpetrators should be rehabilitated because of their belief that capital punishment neither gives the person the opportunity to conform to the norms of the society, nor gives the opportunity of deterrence to actual and potential criminals from future deeds, the Anglican Church holds firmly that anybody who has degenerated to that level of depravity deserves capital punishment and it should be enforced.

In a statement issued recently by the Catholic Bishops conference of Nigeria, the  Catholic bishops condemned, in strong terms,the recent execution, in Edo State, of four convicts.

The President of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria,Archbishop Ignatius Kaigama, described the execution by Edo Government as “ a return to savagery”.

His words: “Just when we believe that Nigerian was on the verge of joining the civilized world in ending the death penalty, we are shocked to hear of the unfortunate execution of four convicted persons in Benin City, Edo State”.

The Bishops, who called on the President, National Assembly, religious and civil society groups to join in this struggle to end the evil said: “We renews all calls for an amendment of the Constitution to proscribe all law that infringes on the rights of individuals, especially the right to life”.

However, the Primate, Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion), Most Rev. Nicholas Okoh had rejected such a call as he  satnds firmly for death penalty for criminals.

Okoh, who berated Amnesty International for condemning Edo State Government over the recent execution four inmates on death sentence in Benin, also pleaded with the Federal Government not to allow itself to be gagged by anybody; he called for the imposition of capital punishment on perpetrators of heinous crimes, including rape and killing, saying those who rape and kill must be killed.

In a bid to tackle the problem of prison congestion in Nigeria, President Goodluck Jonathan recently ordered all the 36 state governor to sign death warrants to facilitate the immediate execution of the over 900 death-row inmates in prisons across the country.

Following this directive by the President, the Edo State Governor, Adams Oshiomhole signed the death warrants of four convicted prisoners in the state. The recent execution of four convicts in Benin has put an end to a seven-year moratorium on death penalty in Nigeria.

Globally, more countries are abandoning the death penalty. In 2012, the top five countries that still execute criminals are China, Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and the United States of America.