In Nigeria, prison congestion and its unpleasant situation have featured in the template for judicial reforms since 1999. This reform clamour is long overdue, because when a man who stole a goat is slammed in a stinking and congested prison, the big man in the society who stole billions of Naira is granted bail to travel abroad for medical checkup. So, the concerned authority such as ministry of justice and that of interior affairs should gear up to their responsibilities to decongest the prison.
The poor, hopeless convicts including suspects awaiting trial continue to suffer in squalor and dehumanizing conditions.
Recently, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, leader of the House of Representative once visited a prison with the aim to perfect the bail condition of some 40 persons who were remanded for their inability to meet conditions imposed by some funny magistrate courts. Some of them were arrested and taken to court for offences such as hawking and loitering within metropolis.
Our prison system is seemingly insensitive to the plight of those who were remanded on flimsy offences or no offence at all. One of prison yard which is meant for 1,700 inmates is being occupied by 3,553 inmates. What an ingenious way to breed hardened criminals.
Besides, the most attractive thing in our prison system is the award of contracts to build more prisons that will accommodate more trouble makers in the land, even when the cases of the awaiting trial suspects, who constitute the majority of inmates, are not treated.
Nigeria is planning to build new prisons when almost 70 per cent of prisoners are awaiting trial. A lot of innocent people or those yet to be convicted for any crime are in prison custody, just because of poor leadership, poor judgment and corruption.
A prison fact sheet indicates that about 69, 200 people are behind the bar and no fewer than 47,800 of them are awaiting trial and most of those awaiting trial in the various prisons have spent 15 years for offences that should attract just 12 months in custody.
Therefore to decongest the prisons, it is the responsibility of the government, particularly the judicial officers, by ensuring that only those who are convicted are sent to prison to serve their jail terms.
This is indeed a wake-up call for managers of the criminal justice system.
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