Segun Awofadeji in Bauchi
The Bauchi State Government has unveiled the implementation of the Violence Against Persons Prohibition (VAPP) law, the Administration of Criminal Justice Law and Penal Code of the state to bring succour for victims of sexual abuse and gender based violence in the state. Yesterday
Addressing a press conference at the NUJ Secretariat in Bauchi, the Chief Judge of Bauchi State, Justice Rabi Talatu Umar, lamented that delays in the dispensation of justice and congestion of dockets of the courts and by extension congestion of Correctional Centres with a high population of Awaiting Trial Persons (ATPs) are the norm and the order of the day.
According to Justice Umar, some latest figures have revealed the position of the state in the administration of justice in Bauchi State from records in the central registry of the High Court where cases are registered and assigned to Magistrate and District Courts within Bauchi metropolis.
The chief justice, who was represented by the Chief Registrar of the State High Court, Subilim Emmanuel, stated that records showed that from January 2021 to December 2021, 567 civil cases were registered, 1,232 criminal cases were registered out of which 219 cases were GBV cases.
She said: “Between January 2022 to December 2022, 1,319 civil cases were registered; 2416 criminal cases were registered out of which 184 cases were GBV cases while from January to 13 February 2023, 130 civil cases were registered, 275 criminal cases were registered out of which 17 are GBV cases.
“These statistics only cover 11 of the 35 sitting magistrates in the state and over 100 Sharia Courts across the state. This is not even without any reference to the pending cases in the various courts.”
Also speaking, the Bauch State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr. Abubakar Mohammed, said that the VAPP, under the new law, included the practice Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), forced marriage and other harmful traditional practices, adding that trial process would not exceed 180 days.
“We now have elimination of delay. No matter how weighty an offence is, you must conclude it within 180 days. Also, we now have a limited number of adjournments, which is five,” he said.
