Photo : Death Row Prisoner ThankGod Ebhos Freed after 19 years

ThankGod Ebhos

A 54 year old man, ThankGod Ebhos has been freed after spending 19 years on death row in Nigeria.

Just last year, ThankGod's life was saved seconds from his execution. He had been tried and sentenced to death by a military tribunal in Kaduna in May 1995, after he was accused of an armed robbery that had taken place in 1988.

June 2013, ThankGod was dragged to the gallows at Benin Prisons, forced to watch four fellow 

death-row inmates being hanged and was told he was next. His execution was however halted when prison authorities realized that his death sentence required it to be carried out by a firing squad, which the prison was not prepared for.

Human rights lawyers had then filed an appeal noting ThankGod had been convicted while the country was under a military dictatorship notorious for unfair trials and torturing confessions from prisoners. 

A court of the Economic Community of West African states in June ruled that Ebhos should be freed. And today, he is finally a free man.

According to Amnesty International:

ThankGod was released from jail on Friday under an order issued by the governor of Kaduna State.