3 Nigerians beheaded in Saudi Arabia

Three Nigerians named Mohammed Ismail, Abdulqudus Adam and Mohammed Kabir Ali were yesterday beheaded in Saudi Arabia. They were found guilty of robbery and murdering of fellow Nigerian named Omar Mohammed Adams. This was published by the official SPA news agency.

Mohammed Ismail, Abdulqudus Adam and Mohammed Kabir Ali broke into the house of Omar Mohammed Adam where "they beat him and his wife, tied them down and strangled Omar to death," the statement said. Then they burgled their compatriot's home, it added.

The beheadings in the western Red Sea city of Jeddah brings the number of executions in that country to 31 since January 1.

On June 10, London-based watchdog Amnesty International called on Saudi Arabia to stop applying the death penalty, saying there had been a significant rise in the number of executions in the previous six weeks. According to Amnesty, 15 people were executed in May alone.

In 2009, the number of executions was 67, compared to 102 the previous year.

Rape, murder, apostasy, armed robbery and drug trafficking are all punishable by death under Saudi Arabia's strict interpretation of Islamic sharia law.