A teenage Nigerian boy sentenced to death by hanging has written to the Borno State Governor, Prof. Babagana Zulum, pleading for speedy execution of the judgement.
Fifteen-year-old Mustapha Abubakar of Cell 6, Unit 1, Cluster 2 at the Maiduguri Maximum Security Custodial Centre in Borno State, northeast Nigeria, urged the governor to sign his death warrant quickly if his appeal for clemency would not materialise “within a reasonable time frame”.
Abubakar was sentenced to death by hanging at age 14 after he was reportedly lured into a get-rich scheme through kidnapping for ransom led to the death of the hostage.
The teenage boy who is the youngest inmate at the facility is on death row awaiting execution at the facility along with 81 men and two women.
In his letter, he lamented being “prostituted, subjected to physical, mental and unprotected sexual abuse from the older inmates and perverted warders”.
According to him, he would have committed suicide if not that his religion forbids it.
In his letter dated September 1, 2023, addressed to Zulum, copied to Vice President Kashim Shettima (former Borno Governor) and titled ‘A Plea For Clemency Or Death, Abubakar wrote, “My name is Mustapha Abubakar. I am a fifteen-year-old boy who was sentenced to death by hanging when I was fourteen. Currently, I am awaiting execution as an inmate on death row in Maiduguri Maximum Security Custodial Centre (MMSCC) Borno State, along with 81 men and 2 women. I am the youngest.
“In my youthful exuberance, I allowed greed, and sheer stupidity on my part, to be lured into a get-rich-quick scheme of kidnapping for ransom in order to buy a power bike. Unfortunately, not only did the plan backfire, it led to the untimely death of the hostage, a fellow human being who had medical complications without our knowledge at the time.
“I am remorseful. Oftentimes in my quiet time, I reflect over the trajectory my life has taken. While my mates in secondary schools are preparing for exams toward a meaningful future, I am here languishing in prison at the outset of my life, waiting for the hangman's noose.
“I feel ashamed of what I have done and sad to have let my family, friends, relatives and country down. Had I followed the right part, perhaps I would have turned out to be a surgeon; a dream I had once nurtured.
“But I also sense that if given another chance, my deteriorating health permitting, I will turn out to be a wiser and productive citizen. With one stroke of your pen, my derailed life can be back on track.
“Your Excellency, I use this medium to plead for clemency within a reasonable time frame. I also plead on behalf of the other inmates on death row who had sent you a letter through the authorities of this centre which was never acknowledged because it probably was not delivered to you in the first place.
“Your Excellency, if clemency for me within a reasonable time frame is an absolute impossibility, then I will request your Excellency to please be kind enough to sign my death warrant expeditiously instead of the current trend of a perpetual wait for execution day, coupled with the stress and abuses from the prison warders who still operate with a punitive and repressive mindset.
“My judgement was rendered in simple and unequivocal language which I understood clearly. Nothing was stated throughout the reading by the honourable judge that while waiting on death row indefinitely in Maiduguri Maximum Security Custodial Centre, I should be prostituted, and subjected to physical, mental and unprotected sexual abuse from the older inmates and perverted warders.
“It is only because my religion forbids it, that I have not yet taken my life with my own hands.”
