Former Edo State Governor and current Senator, Adams Oshiomhole, has launched a scathing attack on judges who routinely reduce death sentences for capital offences to as little as twenty years imprisonment, warning that the practice is destroying public faith in the judiciary.
Speaking on Tuesday, the outspoken senator described the trend as unacceptable and dangerous.
“How can someone sentenced to death for armed robbery or kidnapping that took human lives end up walking free after just twenty years? That is not justice; that is a mockery of justice,” Oshiomhole declared.
He accused some judges of using legal technicalities, appeals, and plea bargains to soften verdicts in cases involving murder, armed robbery, and kidnapping, saying the pattern has created a public perception that serious crimes can simply be “negotiated away” if one has the right connections or resources.
“This is why people are losing confidence in the courts. When the rich and powerful get light sentences while the poor rot in jail for minor offences, the system is telling criminals that crime pays,” he said.
The senator’s outburst comes amid growing nationwide anger over controversial judgments and allegations that influential defendants routinely escape the full weight of the law.
Oshiomhole called on the federal government, the National Judicial Council, and judicial authorities to urgently reform the system, insisting that death sentences passed for capital offences must be upheld to serve as a credible deterrent.
“If we keep reducing death sentences to a few years in prison, we are indirectly encouraging more kidnapping and murder. Justice must not only be done; it must be seen to be done,” he warned.
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