•It makes no sense to place a citizen in prison at such an advanced age
News that Nigeria’s oldest prisoner and death-row inmate, 100-year-old Celestine Egbunuche, has been pardoned by the Imo State Government under the immediate past governor, Rochas Okorocha, signals an end to the centenarian’s suffering in jail. He had been in prison for 18 years, and had spent four years on death row.
Pa Egbunuche’s pathetic case was publicised last year by the Global Society for Anti-Corruption (GSAC), a non-governmental organisation, through petitions to President Muhammadu Buhari and Okorocha, seeking pardon for the inmate. The organisation had asked that the centenarian be freed to go home and die peacefully. Its South East/South South Regional Director, Mrs Amaka Nweke, confirmed that the old man had been pardoned, adding that the prison authorities in Enugu were preparing to release him.
The circumstances that led to his conviction are unclear. Pa Egbunuche, his son, and another relation, were said to have been involved in a land dispute during which somebody had slumped and died. But, according to another version of the story, the old man and his son had been accused of hiring people to kidnap and kill a man over an alleged land dispute in Imo State. They were detained in June 2000 and eventually convicted and sentenced to death in 2014. This means Pa Egbunuche was sentenced to death in his nineties.
An October 2018 report during the campaign for the centenarian’s release captured his sad condition at Enugu Maximum Security Prison. His son, Paul, was quoted as saying: “When you ask him something, he says something else. The doctor told me that it is his age, he has become like a little pikin (child). There are some times when he will ask me: ‘These people here (inmates), what are they doing here?’”
Considering his old age, it is not surprising that Pa Egbunuche’s health deteriorated in prison. His health problems included diabetes and failing eyesight. His son and co-inmate became his carer. Paul said: “When I wake up in the morning, I will boil water and bathe him. I’ll change his clothes, and then prepare food for him. If they open up (the cell) I’ll take him out so the sun will touch him. I’m always close to him, discussing with him and playing with him.” Pa Egbunuche’s pitiable situation is said to have drawn concern from other inmates.
His heart-wrenching photo had gone viral when he turned 100 on August 4, last year, setting in motion events that finally led to his pardon and imminent release. The birthday picture of the frail-looking centenarian triggered a debate about the length of time inmates spent on death row in the country, and the effectiveness of the death sentence. President of the GSAC, which had highlighted Pa Egbunuche’s situation in prison, Franklin Ezeona, observed that it is unreasonable to keep people waiting for years on death row as “the trauma and the torture is too much.”
Statistics show that more than 2,000 people are on death row in the country. Many of them wait endlessly for execution because the death sentence is usually not carried out. For instance, there were only seven executions between 2007 and 2017, according to Amnesty International.
Pa Egbunuche’s case provides yet another reason to review death-row cases in the country, if not the death sentence itself. It is remarkable that he is still alive, having been condemned to death in his nineties, and exposed to the harsh conditions of Nigerian prisons.
It is commendable that the centenarian was pardoned. The authorities should seriously consider parole or pardon for inmates who are advanced in age. After Pa Egbunuche is released, he should not be left without rehabilitation. His release should not be another death sentence.
Leave a Reply