NAN-H-75
Cases
By Sunday John
Wamba (Nasarawa State), Nov. 9, 2016 (NAN) The Chief Judge of Nasarawa State, Justice Suleiman Dikko, has advised state counsel to desist from abandoning criminal cases in courts.
Dikko gave the advice on Wednesday at Wamba Prison, Wamba Local Government Area, at the continuation of his four-day working tour of prisons across the state.
Dikko spoke when he discovered that some state counsel prosecuting criminal cases at High Court I in Akwanga had not been to court over three times when their matters were mentioned in the court.
“In the cause of reviewing cases of some inmates awaiting trial in this prison, I discovered that some state counsel have stopped coming to prosecute their matters in court.
“There is no way a judge can go on and conclude a criminal case without a prosecuting counsel hence the need to call on the state counsel and the police prosecutors to be up and doing,’’ the judge said.
He, however, commended the Nigeria Bar Association and judges of lower courts in Akwanga, Nassarawa/Eggon and Wamba local government areas for living up to their responsibilities.
He said the judges’ attitude was the reason that there were few inmates in the prison that served the areas.
He attributed the delay of justice administration in the state to the action and inaction of some stakeholders in the judicial system.
He emphasised the need for judges to rise up to their responsibility by avoiding delays in order to decongest the prisons.
Dikko said he was on the visit to ensure that inmates wrongly sent to prison were set free in accordance with the relevant laws.
He urged the police, prison authorities and other stakeholders to rise up to their responsibilities in order to sanitise the system and ensure speedy administration of justice in the state.
He promised to forward the report about the bad state of facilities in the prison to the state government and other relevant authorities.
Earlier, Mr Bulus Tari, the Superintendent of Prisons in charge of Wamba Prison, said the facility, built to house 68 inmates, currently had 77 inmates.
He added that out of the 77 inmates, 25 were awaiting trial while 52 had been convicted and serving various jail terms.
He appealed to the state government to assist the prison by building modern structures and equipping them. (NAN)
SDJ/JCE
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Edited by Chukwudi Ekezie