An independent research facilitated by Hope Behind Bars Africa has revealed that 82 women are currently on death row in correctional centres across Nigeria.
The report was based on data from 60 female death row inmates across 10 states, showing that 47 percent were aged between 18 and 35.
The findings also showed that 26 percent of the inmates were between the ages of 36 and 50.
Funke Adeoye, executive director of Hope Behind Bars Africa, called for the abolition of the death sentence for women.
Adeoye said women were more vulnerable and that capital punishment had the potential to permanently disrupt their lives.
The rights advocate said low levels of education made many women more vulnerable to arrest, incarceration and death sentencing.
She said over one-third of the women had no formal education, while only 10 percent attained tertiary education.
The report, titled “Beyond Her Sentence: A Technical Analysis of Gender and Capital Punishment in Nigeria”, said 70 percent of women on death row were mothers.
It said many of the women’s children had been left in fragmented family care.
The study noted that Nigeria retains the death penalty under statutory, customary and sharia legal systems.
It said offences attracting capital punishment range from murder and armed robbery to adultery and same-sex relations in some jurisdictions.
Adeoye said women face unique vulnerabilities in the justice system, including gender bias, limited access to justice, poverty and cultural pressures.
She said, “We accessed 10 facilities across the country, verified official figures of 82 women on death row and conducted trauma-informed interviews with 60 women across 10 states.
She said the visited facilities included Old Benin custodial centre, Kirikiri female correctional centre, Port Harcourt maximum security correctional centre and others.
Adeoye said, “Before their imprisonment, most of these women engaged in informal, low-income occupations such as trading, catering, hair dressing and farming. The pathways that led these women to death row were largely shaped by structural vulnerabilities.”
“More than a third (37%) had experienced gender-based violence, including domestic abuse, forced marriage and child marriage”.
Adenike Sheyindemi, Assistant Comptroller of Corrections and Gender Adviser to the Comptroller General of Corrections, said more sensitisation was needed to prevent women from committing capital offences.