A Guest Post By
Raymond Ijeomah
During my Court Attachment at the Law School, I had a glimpse of the kind of torture innocent citizens go through in our prisons. This made me often sad and I wondered why this had to be so. Can't the authorities try them go or let them go if they can't find convincing evidence to nail them for the alleged offences?
Just yesterday, at a Goal Delivery visit to one of the states prison under the auspices of the Legal Aid Council of Nigeria, I and a few senior colleagues sought the bail of prisoners who were overdue for bail or who should not be there in the first place.
My experience on the visit was mind boggling and it has led me to further research on the state of the Nigerian prisons and the need for the Nigerian government to do something about the situation pronto.
According to Okeke T. (2010) "All over the world, prisons are established to serve as rehabilitation and reformatory institutions with the ultimate goal of re-orientating and reforming inmates, so that they could come out as useful members of society. This institution was established to support criminal justice system in which criminal offences are confined pending the final conviction decision is taken to determine the guilt or innocence of the accused person. Subsequently, incarceration in the event of being found guilty is implemented. People who have been charged or convicted of one criminal offence or more are expected to get re-oriented and become better to live in the society when they leave the prison" It is clear that the Prison is an institution designed to make the world a better place. As at today I do not think this is the reality.
Based on the functions of prisons, two types of persons should be there: those who have already been convicted by the court and those awaiting trial (i.e. those who have not been tried at all). In both situations however, the prisoners must be there lawfully else it becomes a breach of their constitutional right. I would return to this point later. Before I do that, here are some important things you should note about the Nigerian prisons:
1. Three out of every five prison inmates in Nigeria have not been convicted of any offence by any court. The former Comptroller-General of the Nigerian prisons service (NPS), Mr. Olusola Ogundipe, attested to this while testifying during a public hearing on the hitherto proposed Prisons Amendment Bill.
2. According to a statistics released by Citizens United for the Rehabilitation of Errants (CURE-NIGERIA) in 2017, 47,000 representing 70% of the 72, 000 total prison population in Nigeria.
3. Cells ordinarily meant to take about 50 persons take up to 150 inmates in Nigeria. Almost all the prisons in Nigeria take up to three times their normal capacitie. In fact, according to Njoku, the Kirikiri Maximum Security Prison in Lagos, is overcrowded by 250 percent. The said the prison facility was originally built to accommodate 956 inmates, however according to him over 2,600 inmates and painfully, majority of them are patiently awaiting trial.
5. They lack food and health care that lead to their untimely death. Statistics show that about 900 inmates died in 2016. I guess they got their conviction only that it was not through the legally recognised means.
Need I go further? Is it not painful enough that our Government that is supposed to protect lives and property has gotten a means of truncating the great destiny of individuals, old and young? I am not saying criminals should not be imprisoned. I'm only saying that only those who choose to go there due to their criminal choices should be there. In fact, even though they are actually criminals and are convicted, they are meant to return reformed and rehabilitated. This is the standard that the law has instituted, even International Law places great emphasis on this. People should go to prisons and come back better. The opposite is however the case here, because these folks go there, even first time offenders and return as hardened criminals.
Who Really Is Breaching The Law?
According to section 35 of the 1999 Constitution, as amended; every Nigerian has the right to freedom of liberty. Meaning, no one should be unlawfully restrained unless as is permitted by the constitution. Section 36(4) of the same constitution further provides that if for any reason a person is charged for any offence, you must be tried within a reasonable time or upon such impossibility, be remanded in line with the case of Lufedaju v. Johnson. Section 36(5), importantly provides that anyone criminally charged shall be deemed innocent until proven otherwise by a competent court. We need no special help with the interpretation of this provision to know that the fundamental rights of over 70% of those in prisons are being violated.
During our visit, I realized that some prisoners have been there for years, some up to ten years without an information been filed against them. Some have never seen a court room since they got imprisoned. Some others have no record file or missing records. These ones are forgotten. Their lives written off and destinies warped because they have no one or means to fight for them. It is not their fault that they are not being prosecuted; it is the fault of the body constituted to protect them or have them prosecuted when they commit crime.
Some of these individuals even stay there for years and upon being tried, they are declared innocent. So who do they hold for the wasted years? During my research, I stumbled on an article that said there was plan to build 3000 capacity prisons across the states. Then I began to wonder: are they to build more prisons so as to cage more innocent persons? Or they are to look for how to decongest these prisons by removing those who should not be there in the first place?
Conclusions and Recommendations
Insufficiency of State Counsel to prosecute Crime: By law, only the state can prosecute criminals except in the event that a fiat is granted to a private prosecutor. Criminality increases by the day, so it becomes practically impossible for just about 20-30 lawyers within a states Ministry of Justice to prosecute all the cases within the state speedily. To solve this problem, more lawyers should be employed by the Ministries of Justice. There are lawyers everywhere who would be willing to offer their services. Getting fiats should be treated in softer manners to create room for private lawyers to prosecute criminals.
The attitude of the State Counsel: it is no news that Prosecutors treat cases with so much triviality and carefree attitude that you are left to wonder if they even know what they are doing. It is all in a bid to snail the trial as they are not ready or have no strong evidence to prosecute the criminals.
Police officers should investigate crimes thoroughly and properly before charging a such a person to court.
The judiciary is another problem. The courts and judges are few and can barely handle all the criminal cases as fast as expected. Government can and should do something about this.
Some or most state Counsel have their private firms that I believe constitute distractions to them in respect to their primary assignment. This should be curtailed through proper investigation and consequent actions.
Legal Aid Council should be properly furnished with more lawyers to assist those who are indigent as it is one of the factors holding some back in prison.
Every single Nigerian including those in prisons has rights and those rights must be protected even if the heaven falls.
God bless Nigeria.
Bibliography:
https://www.vanguardngr.com/2017/03/46000-awaiting-trial-nigerian-prisons/ accessed on 6th, 02, 2018
https://www.vanguardngr.com/2017/07/nigerian-prisons-becoming-warehouse-dumping-poor-citizens-group-laments/
Ibrahim Z (2012) Nigerian Prisons: Death Traps or Reform Centers p: 26.
Okeke T (2010) Prison Fact Sheet. National Assembly Legislative Digest.
About the Author:
Raymond is a Legal Practitioner and Leadership Coach. He blogs at raymondijeomah.com
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