The international criminal justice organization Zarephath Aid has called for an audit of all correctional facilities across the country to identify inmates and assess the status of each case.
The Founder, Ben Abraham, made this call during a press conference held in Ikeja, Lagos, to commemorate the United Nations International Human Rights Day.
He expressed concern over the increasing number of pre-trial inmates in the nation’s correctional centres and highlighted the plight of individuals who have been awaiting trial for over ten years due to case files being lost or stalled within the criminal justice system.
Ben Abraham stated that such violations of rights significantly deteriorate the quality of life of affected individuals.
He emphasized the urgent need for action, stating, “We must match our words with immediate action to address this significant issue within our criminal justice system.”
He recommended several actions:
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- Section 469 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act 2015 established the Administration of Criminal Justice Monitoring Committee (ACJMC), while Section 375 of the Lagos State Administration of Criminal Justice Law provides for the Lagos State Criminal Justice Sector Reform Committee. Other states in the federation have their committees as well. These committees need to take action and identify the problems present in the criminal justice system, particularly concerning pre-trial inmates.
- An audit should be conducted in all correctional facilities to identify inmates and review their cases. This committee may need to collaborate with Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) to achieve its objectives.
- The Attorney General (AG) should create special panels to expedite the issuance of legal advice from his office. Retired magistrates or high court judges may be employed on an ad-hoc basis for these panels. The Chief Judge can establish these panels to address the backlog of cases awaiting trial in magistrate and high courts.
- The federal and state governments have not adequately involved NGOs in these issues, which is highly recommended. During Chief Obasanjo’s administration from 1999 to 2007, the office of the Attorney General of the Federation collaborated with various organizations to decongest the prisons. This approach can be replicated by working with NGOs that provide pro bono services.
The group has also intervened in the release of the longest-serving pre-trial inmates at the Medium Correctional Centre in Kirikiri, Moses Abiodun and Kazeem Adeshina, who each spent a total of 16 years in custody since their arrests in 1998 until their recent release.
