The delay in Nigeria’s justice delivery system came to the fore recently when the Controller-General of the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS), Haliru Nababa, disclosed that as of July 31, no fewer than 54,171 inmates out of the 79,076 in correctional centres nationwide were awaiting-trial. The figure represents 69 per cent of the inmates while 31 per cent are convicts. This is an increase over the 2022 figures where 51,541 out of the 75,635 inmates or 68 per cent were awaiting trial.
Nababa disclosed this in Abuja at an international conference to commemorate the 2023 International Prisoners Justice Day. The Prisoners’ Justice Day is a solidarity movement that is held annually on August 10, globally. The movement, which began in Canada in 1974, is in support of prisoners’ rights and to remember all the people who had died of unnatural deaths while in incarceration. The theme for this year’s conference was “Enhancing Global Response for Prisoners’ Justice’’
According to Nababa, the high number of Awaiting Trial Inmates (ATIs) is putting undue pressure on custodial centres in the country. Given the number of inmates in custody, the estimated capacity of the correctional centres put at 75,000 has been overshot. “This remains the most daunting setback confronting the NCoS. One can only imagine the enormity of having to consistently produce inmates in court when required. This is coupled with the complications of managing such a high number of pre-trial detainees amidst overcrowding,’’ Nababa stated.
The delay in the trial of prison inmates and subsequent congestion in the correctional centres should be urgently addressed by those in charge of the nation’s criminal justice adjudication system. Many factors account for the slow pace of dispensation of justice, including corruption, inadequate working tools and poor motivation of the judges and other judicial officers. The justice delivery system in the country needs to be reformed. As a result of having so many cases, some of the judges are overtaxed. This is why cases drag for so many years. It can also explain why many inmates are kept in prisons for so many years without trial.
As cases drag, some of the inmates often die without their cases being resolved. Some inmates stay more than the terms they may have spent on conviction. Making the suspects to languish in prison without trial is a violation of their fundamental human rights.
Since justice delayed is justice denied, there is urgent need for speedy dispensation of justice for awaiting trial inmates.
However, the cases must be diligently prosecuted to avoid miscarriage of justice. More judges should be appointed and motivated enough to carry out their duties. Computerisation of the court system must be emphasised. The current system where the judges manually write court proceedings is daunting. This is a major drawback to speedy dispensation of justice. The era of writing court proceedings in long hands should be over. In line with standard practice, our court system must be digitalised forthwith.
The governors and chief judges should work together to decongest the correctional centres. Inmates on awaiting trial over minor offences should be identified and released.
The police need to do diligent investigation and prosecution to avoid unnecessary delay of cases. Lawyers equally need to refrain from unnecessary adjournments that add to the delays in the trials. Let the National Assembly review some of the extant laws that encourage the delay in the justice system and put in motion the processes that will fast-track the speedy dispensation of justice. The laws that encourage unnecessary technicalities and frivolous adjournments should be reviewed or discarded.
The current administration of criminal justice system which gives indefinite timeline for trials is unrealistic and out of tune with the standard practice. The judiciary must do all within its powers to ensure that prison inmates are given expeditious trial. Every obstacle to speedy dispensation of justice should be dismantled.
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