Ghanaian, three Nigerians, others executed in Indonesia 

The Indonesian government has executed eight death row prisoners including a Ghanaian and three Nigerians on Tuesday, ignoring international appeals for clemency. 

The executions were carried out on the notorious Nusakambangan prison island, otherwise referred to as the execution island, near Cilacap in Central Java, according to thejakartapost.com.

The website quotes an unnamed official of the Indonesian Attorney General’s Office as saying; "We've carried out the executions." 

The eight were Indonesian Zainal Abidin, Australians Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, Brazilian Rodrigo Gularte, Nigerians Sylvester Obiekwe Nwolise, Raheem Agbaje Salami and Okwudili Oyatanze, Ghanaian Martin Anderson.

A ninth candidate, Mary Jane Fiesta Veloso of the Philippines was said to have been spared after a woman who allegedly recruited her to act as a drug courier gave herself up to police in the Philippines on Tuesday, the website reported.

"The executions were carried out at 12:30 a.m.," Suhendro Putro, funeral director with the Javanese Christian Church (GKJ) in Cilacap, said in a short message service.

Attorney Genereal’s Office (AGO) spokesman Tony Spontana said the government had agreed to the final requests fielded by two Australian death-row convicts for their bodies to be flown to Australia for burial.

A Cilacap Police officer said that after the executions, prayers were said for each person according to their respective religion. "The executions went well, without any disruptions," he said.

The AGO stated that the executions had been carried out after it had heard all eight convicts’ final requests.

Indonesian Attorney General Muhammad Prasetyo had said in a televised statement that the nine convicts were to be executed at midnight Indonesian time (5pm GMT).

The execution was the second round after the first was carried out on Jan. 18, during which six inmates from Indonesia, the Netherlands, Brazil, Nigeria, Vietnam and Malawi were killed by firing squad.

Credit: thejakartapost.com