Yesterday the report revealed that the only significant investment in the prisons has been towards securing inmates, while on a daily basis prisoners, many of whom are able-bodied, intelligent and capable people, walk aimlessly around prison yards. In this continuation, the role of the prison service towards inmates is examined.

Presidential Committee on Prison Decongestion to the rescue

MEANWHILE, in responding to this development, the Federal Government recently constituted a committee to develop a strategy for the deployment of technology for the decongestion of prisons in Nigeria and the implementation of Virtual Automated Case Management System, VACMS. Government said the committee, chaired by the Chief Judge of the Federal Capital Territory, Justice Ishaq Bello, would aid the systematic decongestion of all the prisons in the country as well as periodically analyse the number of detainees.

Mandates of the committee, according to a statement signed by a media aide to the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Salihu Isah, include to advise the government on periodic visits to prisons for effective monitoring of the programme.

Others are:

*Liaise with relevant government agencies on the progress of prison decongestion programme.

*Organise a national summit on prison reform and decongestion in Nigeria.

*Conduct the audit of criminal cases pending in courts to enable the determination of the reasons for the delay.

*Undertake a legal audit of prison facilities in Nigeria with a view to identifying persons who should not be in prison.

*Carry out other duties as may be assigned to it by the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice.  Isah stated that the committee would oversee the implementation of the Federal Executive Council’s directives to fast-track decongestion of prisons. He said: “This renewed efforts to put prisons across the nation under proper perspective is geared to mark a paradigm shift from previous attempts towards prison decongestion in the country.” He did not stop there.

“Therefore, the Federal Ministry of Justice intends to realign the programme to pay greater emphasis on true reforms of the prison and shifting of emphasis from retaining the services of external solicitors for awaiting trial inmates only to the Reformation, Rehabilitation and Reintegration, RRR, of the inmates. The stakeholders committee is also expected to come up with a roadmap for the prison decongestion programme, providing a comprehensive user-friendly approach for tackling the problems bedeviling the Nigerian prison system. It will also provide an insight into the past and present efforts of the Federal Ministry of Justice and other stakeholder institutions towards repositioning Nigeria prisons system,” he added.

Besides Justice Bello, other members of the committee are Mr. Dayo Akpata, Solicitor General of the Federation and Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Justice, FMOJ; Comrade Salihu Othman Isah, Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice; Mr. Pius Oteh, Special Assistant to the President on Coordination and International Affairs; Mr. Sylvester Imhanobe, Special Assistant to the President on Research and Special Projects; Mr. Reuben Mathew Jego, Supreme Court of Nigeria; Lieutenant Colonel O.N. Adesuyi, Office of the National Security Adviser, ONSA; and Mr. Olawale Fapohunda of the Legal Resources Consortium.

Others are Mr. Clement Nwankwo, Executive Director, Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre, PLAC; Ms Melissa Omene, Office of the Vice President; Mr. Tunde Ikusaga, Legal Aid Council; Titilayo Samuel, National Human Rights Commission, NHRC; Assistant Commissioner of Police, ACP, Patrick Enyeting of the Nigeria Police Force, NPF; Mr. Barkan Hadi, who is a representative of the Director of Public Prosecution of the Federation; Mrs. Sarah H. Daniel, Citizens Rights Department of the FMOJ; Mr. Felix Ota-Okojie, Federal Justice Sector Reform Coordinating Committee, FJSRCC, of FMOJ; representatives of the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA and Nigerian Prisons Service, NPS and Mrs. Leticia Ayoola-Daniels of the FMOJ who serves as secretary of the committee.

Inaugurating the Stakeholders Committee to oversee the implementation of the Federal Executive Council’s directives to fast track decongestion of prisons in the country on October 31, the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr Abubakar Malami, SAN, gave hint that the Federal Government was seriously considering the option of implementing non-custodial sentencing as a means of addressing challenges of prison congestion.

Persons awaiting trial

The AGF bemoaned current state of prisons in the country which he described as “very embarrassing”. He said the fact that 70 per cent of inmates in Nigerian prisons are persons awaiting trial was an indictment on our justice system. Malami said the situation contradicts international standards, including those provided in the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights, ICCPR. He disclosed that the ICCPR is provided for the limited use of pre-trial detention only when certain conditions are present.

The AGF said: “The current state of our prisons is unfortunately very alarming. There is no gainsaying that the facilities are vastly overcrowded with inmates and the environment mostly not conducive, therefore defeating the primary purpose of the prisons as primarily reformation centres. As a matter of fact, the state of our prisons directly touches on the fundamental human rights of these inmates and constitutes a violation of those rights.  As Nelson Mandela once said: ‘No one truly knows a nation until one has been inside its jail’”.

He said the Ministry of Justice had few years ago, initiated a programme that was intended to reduce the number of inmates in Nigerian prisons by primarily looking into the cases of persons awaiting trial and individuals convicted of minor offences for which fines were the penalty.

Malami insisted that pre-trial detention is a period most open to abuse in the criminal justice process. “In order for a prison system to be managed in a fair and humane manner, national legislation, policies and practices must be guided by the international standards developed to protect the human rights of prisoners,” the AGF added.

He said his office has concluded plans to come up with a roadmap and comprehensive action plan to ensure that permanent gains were achieved in the work on reformation and decongestion of correctional institutions in Nigeria.

But even as the committee prepares to kick-start its assignment with visits to various prisons across the country, there are divided views as to whether it will succeed in its assignment. For instance, many in some quarters are particularly sceptical about the committee being able to make any headway, arguing that what the prison system needs at the moment is not a committee on decongestion but total overhaul of the entire system.

They  insist that aside the rhetorics on the subject matter, it is expected that the planned reforms would change the focus of penitentiary measures in the country from punishment and isolation, to restorative justice and re-integration.

The position of many observers is that the setting up of task forces either on prison reform or decongestion has become a routine past-time of successive administrations in Nigeria which often end up not achieving the envisaged or stated objectives. The argument basically is that: “The Federal Government has failed to implement the recommendations of many study groups and presidential committees over recent years. Few of the promises made by the Nigerian government have been carried out and this has led to the current problems being experienced in the country’s prisons”.

Previous committees on prisons reform/decongestion

For instance, a February 2008 Amnesty International reports on Nigeria submitted thus: “… The Nigerian government has, on numerous occasions, stated its willingness to reform the criminal justice system, acknowledging its role in creating a situation of prolonged detention and overcrowding. Despite many presidential commissions and committees recommending reform, the recommendations have not been implemented. Instead, the government has set up new committees and commissions to study, review and harmonise the previous recommendations.

“The Nigerian government has frequently expressed willingness to improve prison conditions and access to justice for those on pre-trial detention (inmates awaiting trial). The establishment of a Presidential Task Force on Prison Reforms and Decongestion led to the release of around 8,000 prisoners in 1999. However, no long-term policy was adopted to address the problems in prisons and within a few years they were as congested as they had been before the release.

“In June 2001, the then Minister of Interior, Chief Sunday Afolabi, said that the government would review prison laws and prison reform, train personnel, rehabilitate inmates and revitalise the prison system with the Prison Reforms Programme. It is reported to have spent N2.4 billion.

“Since 2000, several working groups and committees on prison reforms have been established: The National Working Group on Prison Reform and Decongestion reviewed 144 prisons and revealed in its 2005 report that the population of Nigerian prisons over the previous 10 years had totalled between 40,000 and 45,000 inmates, most of them concentrated in the state capitals. Of those, 65 per cent were awaiting trial.

“The Inter-Ministerial Summit on the State of Remand Inmates in Nigeria’s Prisons was established in 2005 to review the report of the previous Working Group on Prison Reform. It recommended that the Federal Government should respond to the problem of inmates awaiting trial, pay more attention to rehabilitation, and address the issue of the large number of inmates awaiting trial due to the shortage of defence counsel.

“In 2006, the Presidential Committee on Prison Reform and Rehabilitation was established. This committee recommended improving the conditions of service of prison and police officials, and addressing the issues of prison congestion and the large number of prisoners awaiting trial. When then President Obasanjo received the committee’s report, he said that the Federal Government would implement its recommendations.

The Presidential Commission on the Reform of the Administration of Justice, PCRAJ, established on March 16, 2006 to review the administration of justice in Nigeria and propose sustainable reforms, expressed concern that imprisonment was being overused, including in cases of the non-violent persons suspected of minor offences.

“The Committee on the Harmonisation of Reports of Presidential Committees Working on Justice Sector Reform reiterated in April 2007 the recommendations of the PCRAJ.”

Attention to  rehabilitation

The report continued thus: “Prisoners in Nigeria are systematically denied a range of human rights. Stakeholders throughout the Nigerian criminal justice system are culpable for maintaining this situation. The police do not bring suspects promptly before a judge or judicial officer; despite the Nigerian Constitution’s guarantee that this will occur within 24 hours, it usually takes weeks – and in some cases months – before suspects are brought before a judge.

“Suspects are usually ill-treated in police custody; many are denied their right to contact their families or a lawyer, and in some police stations, suspects do not receive any food. The police routinely use torture to extract confessions and, despite this being widely acknowledged by the police themselves, little is done to stop it. In addition, the police do not respect the principle of the presumption of innocence.

“The judiciary fails to ensure that all inmates are tried within reasonable time; indeed, most inmates wait years for a trial. When inmates are convicted, most courts do not inform them of their right to appeal. Nor does the judiciary guarantee that all suspects are offered legal representation.

“Few of the courts take the necessary steps to end the use of evidence elicited as a result of torture. In breach of national and international law, the judiciary does not guarantee fair trial standards even in the case of minors.

The prisons cannot ensure that
conditions in all their facilities are adequate for the health and well-being of the prisoners. Severe overcrowding and a lack of funds have created a deplorable situation in Nigeria’s prisons.

“The opening of prisons to non-governmental organisations has had a positive effect: NGOs bring food, educational materials and lawyers into the prisons. They organise religious activities, offer counselling and teach inmates. However, NGOs are not primarily responsible for the welfare of the inmates. It is time the Nigerian government faces up to its responsibilities for those in its prisons.”