NIGERIA /SINGAPORE: Nigerians react to the execution in Singapore of a Nigerian convicted of drug smuggling.

Nigerians give their views on the execution of a Nigerian man in Singapore for drug smuggling. The authorities rejected appeals for clemency by Nigeria's president, the UN and rights groups. Singapore hanged two African men on Friday (January 26) for drug smuggling after the city-state's prime minister rejected international clemency pleas, saying its tough stance was necessary to protect Singapore's interests. The southeast Asian island-state of 4.4 million has the highest per capita execution rate in the world and has hanged more than 420 people since 1991, according to human rights group Amnesty International. Iwuchukwu Amara Tochi, a 21-year-old Nigerian man, and Okeke Nelson Malachy, a 35-year-old stateless man, were hanged at about 6 a.m. (2200 GMT) at Changi Prison, said Stanley Seah, assistant superintendent at Singapore's Central Narcotics Bureau. Tochi was arrested at Singapore's Changi Airport in November 2004 for carrying about 727 grams (25.6 ounces) of heroin -- worth about 1.5 million Singapore dollars (980,000 US dollars) -- while Malachy was arrested after he was identified by police as the intended recipient of the drugs. "Mr Tochi's family will find Singapore's position difficult to accept, but we have a duty to safeguard the interests of Singaporeans, and protect the many lives that would otherwise be ruined by the drug syndicates," Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said in a letter to Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo. Lee said the amount of heroin that Tochi carried was equivalent to more than 48,000 doses -- "enough to have destroyed many lives and families". Nigeria's president earlier this week asked Singapore to grant a reprieve to Tochi, who was a good football player in Nigeria according to human rights group Singapore Anti-Death Penalty Campaign. "Its pathetic that Tochukwu has finally been killed, its not fair, but what can we do, its just a lesson for us to learn that drug pushing is not the best and it will serve as a deterrent to all the big wigs that are sending our children on this kind of errand," said Sola Adigun, who lives in Lagos. "This will serve as a lesson to the rest of other youths that, next time we need to keep to the rules and regulations of things before we go into business," added Gilbert Okoafor, another Lagos resident. Human rights activists had originally expected Malachy to be hanged at a later date. About 10 activists had gathered had before dawn on Friday to light candles and await the execution hour. A red football jersey was hung on the prison fences to mark Tochi's love for football. At 6 a.m., the protesters placed roses before the make-shift memorial and dispersed quietly soon after. Tochi's family had not travelled to Singapore to see him because they could not afford the journey, according to an official at the Nigerian embassy in Singapore. The death sentence is mandatory for anyone caught carrying more than 15 grams of heroin in Singapore, which enforces one of the harshest anti-drug laws in the world. The United Nations' Human Rights Council said on Thursday the hanging violated international legal standards on the use of the death penalty.

ITN Source | January 30, 2007

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