A Nigerian civil society observatory coalition has reminded governments at various tiers of the urgency required to address the lingering issue of prolonged pretrial detention of suspects involved in various offenses, at police stations.
The observatory Coalition comprising multi-faceted social functional groups which include: Socio-Economic Research and Development Center (SERDEC), represented by Mr. Tijani AbdulKareem from Kogi State; Locate Initiative for Missing and Exploited Persons (Locate NG) represented by Mr. Robert Ndukwe Ogbogu from Lagos State; Women Aid Collective (WACOL-Observatory Advisor) represented by Prof Joy Ezeilo from Enugu State and Mrs. Blessing Abiri, representing CLEEN Foundation(Secretariat) based in Lagos State.
Others are Mr. Kehinde Adegbite Esq, a private legal practitioner from Oyo State and Dr. Cheluchi Onyemelukwe, an Academic/Independent Legal Consultant from Lagos State.
The group observed that prolonged pretrial detention at police stations nationwide continues to be a cause of grave concern for citizens and key stakeholders including the Civil Society Observatory on the Implementation of administration of criminal justice in Nigeria.
“Despite the enabling provisions of the ACJA 2015 which seeks to expedite criminal trials and depopulate prisons and other places of detention, the problem still persists. The Civil Society Observatory therefore adds its voice to the call for more proactive measures to be taken by relevant criminal justice agencies, critical stakeholders such as the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA), states and federal government.”
“While the Observatory group recognizes and commends the federal government effort to set up the national stakeholders’ committee on prison decongestion, it emphasized that the committee needs to indeed live up to its mandate to fast track addressing issues of overcrowded prisons and rising numbers of awaiting trial persons in the country.”
The coalition further noted that, “the CJN’s directive for monthly visitation by Magistrates to police stations in accordance with S.34 of the ACJA is considered a very welcome development as it would not only address issues of police brutality, but also prolonged detention at police stations. The observatory group emphatically calls for close monitoring geared towards understanding efforts being made towards the domestication of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act(ACJA) 2015 in Kano State.”
The members of the Observatory were also intimated on concrete efforts being made by the State government which include the development of a draft ACJL presently before the Kano State House of Assembly which is hoped to be passed before the end of 2018.
The group while commending the efforts of the Kano State government, called on the Kano State House of Assembly to expedite action on the passage of the draft legislation into law and guarantee its full implementation, and also continue to train and re-train the officers and men of the Kano State Police Command on their roles and responsibilities as provided in the Administration of Criminal Justice;
The observatory group also encouraged other states particularly those in the North to domesticate the ACJA, 2015 for the effective management of criminal justice in Nigeria.
Similarly, the group commended the efforts of development partners such as Rule of Law and Anit-Corrutipion (ROLAC) for the support provided by the monitoring committee, in the course of carrying out its task.
It also urged the Nigerian government to urgently take constructive steps to ensure that the requisite infrastructure, equipment and budgetary allocations required by the relevant criminal justice agencies be put in place for the ACJA, 2015 to work effectively.