Breaking : Indonesia executes three Nigerian drug convicts

Indonesia went ahead to execute one local and three Nigerian drug convicts by firing squad, an official said.

Michael Titus Igwe

They were put to death shortly after midnight, Noor Rachmad, deputy attorney general for general crimes, told reporters.

He did not say why 10 other drug convicts, who had been expected to face the firing squad, were not executed, although the island where the convicts were being put to death was hit by a major storm as the executions took place.

“The executions were for now conducted on four convicts on death row.

 “This is not a fun job. For us, this is really a sad job because it involves people’s lives.

“This was done not in order to take lives but to stop evil intentions, and the evil act of drug trafficking", he said.

Indonesia rejected appeals from the UN and EU to halt the execution of the drug convicts, as speculation mounted they could face the firing squad in a matter of hours.

The country’s President Joko Widodo has defended the use of the death penalty to combat rising narcotics use.