The federal government may have decided that it would defend the recent execution of four convicts in Edo, which ended a seven-year moratorium on death penalty in the country.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr Olugbenga Ashiru, at a consultative forum on the forthcoming review of human rights in Nigeria under the UN Universal Period Review (UPR), acknowledged that executions in Edo would likely come up when the country appears before the UN human rights council in Geneva this October for a periodic review of its human rights.

The Minister said state governments are autonomous in Nigeria and for the execution in Edo, Governor Adams Oshiomhole acted within the confines of the law.

The June 24 execution in Edo had been criticised by the U.K. government, United Nation, the EU High Representative and a host of global and Nigerian rights organisation.