SINGAPORE EXECUTES MALAYSIAN, NIGERIAN FOR TRAFFICKING, AUTHORITIES CONFIRM

November 18, 2016: Singapore executed two foreigners convicted of drug trafficking, authorities said, a day after the city-state's highest court rejected final bids for both men to escape the gallows.
The Nigerian and Malaysian were hanged after their last minute appeals were thrown out.
“A 38-year-old male Nigerian national, Chijioke Stephen Obioha, had his death sentence carried out on 18 November 2016 at Changi Prison Complex,” the Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) said in a statement.
Obioha, who came to Singapore hoping to be a footballer, was convicted of trafficking 2.6 kilogrammes of cannabis in 2008. Under Singapore law, anyone caught with more than 500 grams of cannabis can be sentenced to death.
A change in the law in 2013 meant that Obioha could apply to be re-sentenced, opening up the possibility of a life sentence, but he turned it down, the CNB said.
Just before he was to be hanged in 2015, Obioha's lawyer filed for a stay in execution, which was allowed by Singapore's highest court, marking the start of a legal rollercoaster which saw Obioha applying and withdrawing several legal options.
On November 17, his lawyers launched a final bid to have his sentence commuted to life in prison but were turned down by a three-judge court.
Separately, the CNB also confirmed the execution of 31-year-old Malaysian Devendran Supramaniam, who was convicted of trafficking heroin.
He was arrested in May 2011 at Singapore's border checkpoint with Malaysia carrying 2.7 kilograms of a powdery substance that contained 83.36 grams of pure heroin.
Like Obioha, Devendran launched an eleventh-hour appeal on November 17 to stay his execution, but was turned down. (Sources: themalaymailonline.com, 18/11/2016)