STILL ON AWAITING TRIAL INMATES

Minor offenders have no business in prisons

The latest report by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) that there are 84,767 inmates across correctional centres in the country, with 68 per cent of them awaiting trial, is worrying.

“These figures represent people – mothers (including nursing mothers), fathers, daughters, sons, members of the community – many of which have committed minor offences,” said the UNODC Head of the Justice, Integrity and Health Unit, Ms. Muchaneta Mundopa. “The figures also force us to think about the victims, people who have to live with the harm caused by offenders, irrespective of whether an offender is convicted or not.”

As depressing as the statistics may seem, Mundopa is only echoing the Director-General of the Legal Aid Council of Nigeria, Aliyu Abubakar, on the issue of awaiting trial inmates in the country. The problem of these inmates has been compounded by “inadequate centres, and, more importantly, the remand system where suspects are detained for minor issues, leading to overcrowding,” noted Abubakar. While it is not unlikely that many of those unfortunate Nigerians may have spent longer time than the period for which they would have been jailed if their cases had been promptly disposed of, the main concern is that efforts are not being made to address the problem.

Having these individuals languish in prison without any attempt at hearing their cases is a clear violation of their fundamental rights. Besides, what the huge gulf between the number of convicted persons and those awaiting trial clearly reveals is that the machinery of justice dispensation is grinding to a halt in Nigeria. Indeed, there are stories that in many of the stinking, tiny prisons across the country, some inmates have spent between 10 and 20 years in detention without trial. Prisoners and detainees, majority of whom had never been tried in court, have also reportedly been subjected to extrajudicial execution, torture, food and water shortages, inadequate medical treatment, deliberate and incidental exposure to heat.

While we do not advocate a wholesale release of these detainees, it is unconscionable to keep people perpetually detained without being convicted of any crime. Therefore, we believe the UNODC has just re-echoed the sad narrative of the state of the Nigerian prisons. So, there is an urgent need for some intervention measures which should include access to justice programme for the inmates; better endowment for prisoner education, vocational training and rehabilitation programmes. Authorities in the justice sector should also conduct prison inspections on a regular basis while there should always be a swift response to complaints. Above all, the federal government must work with the states on how to decongest the prisons, especially of those who ordinarily should not be there.

 However, it is important to note that many of the prisons were built during the colonial era and since then no efforts have been made to renovate them. Consequently, the worn-out facilities and infrastructure are unable to cater for the increasing population of inmates. It is therefore no surprise that whereas the prison systems in many countries are meant to reform the prisoners, the Nigerian prison system hardens them. Efforts at decongesting our prisons or ameliorating the plight of awaiting trial inmates would come to naught without adequate judicial reform aimed at a complete overhauling of the country’s criminal justice system. That is the only way we can ensure that our prisons are not populated by innocent people while the real criminals roam the streets.

  The Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun should institute the necessary reforms to address the problem.

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