Senate moves against detention without trial

RESPITE came the way of inmates in prisons across the country, as the Senate, on Wednesday, insisted that there must be an end to detention without trial in the country.
This was as the bill seeking to mandate the Chief Justice of Nigeria and state chief judges to release prison inmates unlawfully detained or who had overstayed their prison terms passed the second reading at Senate plenary.
The bill for an Act to Amend the Criminal Justice (Release from Custody) (Special Provisions) Act Cap C40 Laws of The Federation of Nigeria 2004, also sought to decongest Nigerian prisons.
Senator Babajide Omoworare (Osun East), who sponsored the bill, said it was disheartening that Nigerian Prisons currently host almost 70 per cent of inmates awaiting trial.
He recalled how the Minister of  Interior, Abba Moro, recently admitted that 30,000 or over 65 per cent of over 46,000 inmates of prisons across the country were awaiting trial.
He further said the bill sought to amend two sections of the Act which was enacted in 1977.
He quoted Section 1 of the Act, which states that “in respect of any person detained in any prison in Nigeria, not being a person detained in execution of a sentence of a court or tribunal duly constituted by the law, the Chief Justice of Nigeria or chief judge of a state is satisfied that the detention of that person is manifestly unlawful…”
Omoworare said detaining people beyond their prison terms or subjecting people to unlawful detention was an infringement on the fundamental rights of victims.
He added that Section 35 (4,5) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), provided that an accused person must be brought before a court within a reasonable time or released from custody two to three months from the date of arrest.
“The thrust of this auspicious bill is to address, with the hope of finally laying to rest the nagging national issue of prison congestion that has defiled almost every regime and attendant administrative policies in this country.
“The disheartening bleak truth is that our prisons host almost 70 per cent of inmates who are awaiting trial.
“It is cardinal to point out that holding a person awaiting trial beyond the time he or she would have spent had they been sentenced for the offence they have been charged is a matter viewed globally as infringement of their human rights.
“The over-population of the prisons have largely been responsible for the incessant jail breaks in Nigeria and with this comes the attendant security risk to our nation as both convicted and awaiting trial inmates disappear into the thin air,” he said.
Senator Smart Adeyemi said if there was any bill that deserved to be given adequate support, it was the bill.
He said human rights and dignity were interwoven in a democracy, adding that democracy would have lost its value if people were not accorded their deserved dignity of human person.
He suggested that the bill must correct the anomaly in the current Act by spelling out provisions that would compel the Comptroller-General of  Prisons to send a monthly report to the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) to enable the him to release those wrongfully kept in prison.
Supporting the bill, Senator Olufemi Lanlehin, said if passed into law, the bill would eradicate prisons congestion.
Senator Abdul Ningi said the door of prison was not closed to anyone who was alive, adding that the pathetic state of inmates awaiting trial spoke volumes of administration of criminal justice in Nigeria.
In his remarks, Senate President David Mark, described the bill as beautiful and expressed happiness that it was unanimously supported by all senators in the chamber.
He said the bill should be treated as judiciously as possible when it went for public hearing, adding that it was not in the best interest of the country for an inmate to overstay his prison terms.
He described as an unfair situation when the victims were usually members of the lower or middle class in the society.