Amnesty International has received credible reports that the authorities in the state of Edo in southern Nigerian have hanged four men in Benin City Prison today - the first known executions in the country since 2006.

A fifth man remains at imminent risk of execution.

Amnesty International Africa Deputy Director Lucy Freeman said:

“If confirmed, these executions mark a sudden, brutal return to the use of the death penalty in Nigeria, a truly dark day for human rights in the country.

“We again urge the Nigerian authorities to stop all executions immediately and return to the moratorium on executions in the country. We oppose the death penalty in all cases without exception, as it is the ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment.”

According to Amnesty’s Death Sentences and Executions 2012 report, Nigeria sentenced 56 people to death last year, and approximately 1,000 people are reportedly on death row in the country.