NAN-H-52
Prisons
By Edith Nwapi
Abuja, Nov. 11, 2016 (NAN) Some Legal Practitioners in the Federal Capital Territory, on Friday called on the Federal Government to improve the state of the prisons across the country.
The lawyers told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in separate interviews that improving the state of the prisons would help to change the conditions of the inmates for the better.
One of the respondents, Mr Anthony Ekuma, was of the opinion that inmates should be kept in separate prisons according to the gravity of offences they committed.
“There should be minimum and maximum prisons; the authorities should ensure that those committed for minor offences are kept in minimum prison while those committed for `heinous’ offences are kept in maximum prison.
“Prisons should be a place where reformation of character should be achieved if properly managed.
“There should be collaboration between the law enforcement agents, in such a way that certain minor offences could be settled at their stations, rather than taken to court and prison,” he said.
Ekuma stressed the need for more `jail delivery,’ whereby a Chief Judge visits the prison and set free some inmates who deserve such freedom.
He also stressed the need for the recruitment of more judiciary officers to give quick attention to the needs of offenders
In his submission, Mr Joel Ali another legal practitioner in Abuja, decried the state of prisons in Nigeria, saying some of the inmates might not be guilty of the offences they were accused of.
“Our law enforcement agents, especially the police should be thorough in their investigations; as some of the allegations preferred against an accused at times may not be sufficient.
“On the part of the court, there should be speedy trail to bring about speedy judgement on criminal cases especially.
“The court is hope for the common man as the prison should also be a place of reformation for offenders, “he said.
The lawyer advised the government to strengthen the Administration of Criminal Justice Act which advocated custodian sentence or alternative sentence.
According to Ali, strengthen the Administration of Criminal Justice Act will help to decongest the prison and ensure that inmates charged with light offences were not kept together with those with criminal offences.
In her submission, Ms Christie Nwaka, declared that if the state of the prisons were not improved, the much needed character reformation which was the main aim for establishing prison would not be achieved..
“The prison should be made to wear the colour of what it stands for, that is character reformation and moral building not just a dumping ground for those who cannot buy justice.
“The inmates should be trained one vocation or the other, especially the `unfortunate` ones to enable them earn a living after serving their terms.
“If their focus is not directed rightly, inmates will end up being more hardened and continue to unleash terror on their environment.
“They will also see the society as unjust and live meaningless life,” Nwaka added. (NAN)
NEO/TO/AEA
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Edited by Tola Okinbaloye/Archibong Asuquo