By Chinyere Omeire
Some lawyers on Wednesday called for enactment of laws that would prohibit alleged minor offenders from awaiting trial for more than six months.
The lawyers made the call in interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos.
They expressed concerns about congestion of correctional facilities across the states.
Mr Chibuikem Opara of Justification Chambers, Ikeja, said that the congestion must be tackled adequately.
He described it as unacceptable.
“We cannot pretend that prison congestion is not a colossal problem,” he said.
Opara said that both the attorney-general of the federation and attorneys-general of states had significant roles to play in decongesting custodial facilities.
He urged attorneys-general of states to regularly visit the correctional facilities to release suspects of minor offences awaiting trial.
Opara also advised that the various legislative houses in the country should be encouraged to pass laws which would ensure that no suspect of minor offences should await trial for more than six months.
According to him, such laws will spur law enforcement agencies to do better.
“Judicial officers, especially magistrates, must be made to invoke the legally-provided non-custodial measures such as fines, community services and restorative justice principles over prison sentences.
“In that wise, a convict will only face a prison sentence in specified offences that cannot be corrected otherwise,” Opara said.
Dr Yemi Omodele, Principal Partner at Omodele Chambers, Ikeja, told NAN that that police ought not to charge cases to court without concluding investigation.
According to him, charging every case to court has resulted in congestion of the prisons.
Mr Ademola Owolabi, Principal Partner, Owolabi Chambers, Lagos, appealed that magistrates should be empowered to carefully peruse case files first before remanding suspects.
He said that such an act would eradicate ensure that suspects charged with minor offences would not be remanded.
“If magistrates peruse case files first, they would know whether to invoke the principle of non-custodial sentencing in a given case.
“Most times, cases are brought very late in the day, making it difficult for the magistrate to look into the case files before arraignment.
“This must be looked into to ensure that our correctional facilities are decongested,” Owolabi said.
He also urged the police to carry out thorough investigation before charging cases to court.
Owolabi said that some cases, which were not criminal in nature, were, sometimes, brought to court as criminal cases, thereby giving room for congestion of court dockets and custodial facilities.
He added that lawyers should be attached to police stations for proper advice on how cases should be handled. (NAN)
