Amnesty International says five of the 184 people executed for drug trafficking and other offences in Saudi Arabia in 2019 were Nigerians.

Even though global executions fell by 5%, a 10-year low, Saudi Arabia still executed the highest number Amnesty has ever recorded in a single year in the country, and the third highest of any country last year.

The Middle Eastern country's execution of Kudirat Afolabi, a Nigerian woman who was convicted for drug trafficking, in April 2019 raised diplomatic concerns in Nigeria.

The Chairperson of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM), Abike Dabiri-Erewa, said at the time that 20 other Nigerians were on Saudi Arabia's death row for a similar offence.

The crimes of the 184 executed in 2019 were drug-related offences, murder, terrorism, rape, beating and rape, and armed robbery and rape.

In the 2019 global review of the death penalty report that was published on Tuesday, April 21, 2020, Amnesty called for a complete worldwide abolition of the death penalty which it described as 'abhorrent and inhuman punishment'.

Other top executing countries in the world in 2019 called out by the human rights organisation are China, Iran, Iraq, and Egypt.

"The death penalty is an abhorrent and inhuman punishment; and there is no credible evidence that it deters crime more than prisons terms. 

"A large majority of countries recognize this and it’s encouraging to see that executions continue to fall worldwide," said Clare Algar, Amnesty International's Senior Director for Research, Advocacy and Policy.

The agency recorded 2,307 death sentences globally, a decrease on the 2,531 death sentences recorded in 2018.

Nigeria imposes 54 death sentences in 2019

Amnesty said it did not receive information on official figures for death sentences imposed in Nigeria in 2019, but that at least 54 were passed on convicts.

Even though no executions were carried out, the organisation said the mandatory death sentences were imposed in violation of international law and standards.

"Amnesty International estimates that at least 2,700 people were under the sentence of death at the end of the year," the organisation said.

Amnesty noted that at least 67 people had their death sentences commuted to life imprisonment and at least 13 people were pardoned in 2019.

The organisation also expressed concern that the death penalty was expanded in scope in 2019 in Katsina where it was introduced for kidnapping and cattle rustling, and Taraba where it was introduced for kidnapping.

In the Sub-Saharan African region, death sentences were confirmed in 18 countries in 2019, an increase of one compared to 2018.