Prison officials in Singapore have executed an alleged Nigerian drug trafficker, Chijioke Stephen Obioha in the early morning of Friday.
Chijioke Stephen Obioha
The Nigerian man on death row, Chijioke Stephen Obioha has been executed by officials of Singapore early this morning after the Court of Appeal dismissed an Urgent Criminal Motion filed by his lawyer, Mr Joseph Chen, yesterday.
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.
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.”
“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.”
Chijioke spent almost 8 years on death row and more than 9 years behind bars since his arrest in 2017.
In August, another Nigerian Izuchukwu F. Ezimoha was among the three Nigerians executed in Indonesia for alleged drug trafficking. He was buried in his multi-million mansion in Ezigbo village, Ihiala LGA of Anambra State on Thursday, August 18th. His outing service will hold tomorrow in his village.
