Estimated reading time: 41 minute(s)
Sodiq Mojibola
The atmosphere has become charged following the plan by the federal government to release 22,390 prisoners which is 30 per cent of the total prisoners few weeks to the 2023 elections.
While many Nigerians described the move as politically motivated ,others hail the move, saying, it wouid set free those who were wrongly detained .
PLATFORM TIMES sought different stakeholders’s opinions including lawyers, public analysts, businessmen, students and the Civil Society Organisation on the plan by the federal government to release the huge number of the prisoners while the election was at the corner .
The planned release of 30% of prisoners was to decongest the overpopulated prisons across the country.
Recalled that the federal government through the minister of Interior Affairs, Rauf Aregbesola had disclosed that the ministry would be meeting with state governors to discuss the interface for the release of 30 percent inmates from the prisons across the nation.
Aregbesola made it known that the prisons which had 74,635 prisoners at the time of filing this report, had gone beyond their capacity of 58,278, hence the reason for the interface.
Some Nigerians however, consider the move by the federal government as a good development to set free unlawfully detained persons who have lost their families in the unfortunate circumstance of the Nigerian Judicial system.
While many others are skeptical about the inmate release interface, describing it as a politically motivated tactic geared towards the coming election.
PLATFORM TIMES, in a strategic interview with concerned Nigerians gathered diverse opinions in this respect.
…..The Need For Prison Decongestion
In 2019, prisons were rechristened to correctional centres. The Custodial Centres of the Nigerian Correctional Service NCoS offshot their combined carrying capacity of 58,278 by over 16,000, a development that has reportedly continued to fuel aggression among inmates and overstretched the system.
The Controller General of Corrections (CGC), Haliru Nababa, said the “NCoS maintains 244 facilities including 20 farm centres, 10 cottage industries, one open camp and four Borstal training institutions.”
In alignment with existing evidence of wrongful detention and incarceration of many Nigerians into prisons, the minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola disclosed his plan to meet with state governors for the release of inmates in their respective prisons, considering the fact that most prisoners are state offenders.
He disclosed this in a press statement, stating that about 10% of inmates in all Nigerian prisons are federal government offenders, hence, the need to meet with the state governors on the release of the inmates.
Aregbesola added that the current population of inmates in Nigerian prisons have exceeded its capacity by over 16,000, ramification of congestion of prisoners; convicted, trial and awaiting trials.
It therefore became pivotal to decongest the prisons by 30%, bearing in mind the total number of inmates numbering 74,635 as at the time of filing this report.
… Overbearing Pressure From Awaiting Trial Inmates
The Minister also added that the number of awaiting trial inmates in the prisons mount undue pressure on the prison capacity.
He lamented the poor criminal justice system of the country for keeping suspects detained for years, by calling for a review of the system in order to provide a timeline for trials.
Aregbesola said, “No fewer than 70 percent of Nigerian inmates are serving time without being sentenced as they are awaiting trials,” he said.
“Assuming the period of waiting for trial is even small, probably it will not be an issue, we can manage it.
“How can you put people on trial for fifteen, ten years, how? and they are not a small number.
“Some are even there forever, there is no file, there is no prosecution process, they are just there.
“Our own is to keep, we have no power over those who are there, we cannot release them. So, as long as there is a warrant to detain them, we keep them,” he added.
… Summary of Inmates Statistic
As at the time of filing this report, the summary of statistics of inmates population by convict and awaiting trial persons as at 31st, October, 2022, as obtained from Nigerian Correctional Service held that the total population of inmates was 76,213.
Male inmates had a total of 74,508, while female inmates had a number of 1,705.
Total number of convicted inmates was 23,289 while the number of awaiting trial inmates numbered 52,924.
… In Legal Practitioners’ s Purview
A legal practitioner, Barrister James Oluwatosin Ogunbiyi provided a guide to the process of prison decongestion as done in previous times.
Explaining that there would be prison visitations by government officials and the judiciary where the inmates would be screened to identify the changed ones among them.
He added that among the procedures used for decongesting prisons are presidential pardon.
He said, “We also have a presidential pardon in which they will write to the Government through the Correctional service that some inmates have condoned good behavior while serving time.
“For example, some inmates that were sentenced 50 years imprisonment and that have had a changed life could be written for pardon probably after serving 10 to 15 years in prison. This is a similar case to what the minister must have in plan.
“Not that they would just release prisoners without really finding out if the prisoners in the category are well deserving of the release. This has been the process all the while.
“We are practicing democracy in Nigeria, so I just won’t lie to you, the plan to release prisoners can be easily linked to the coming election.
“It is a political game. You know if it were to be the military, they would have used a firing squad to execute the real criminals among prisoners. I must tell you that this is politically motivated.”
Another legal practitioner, Teslim Akinbami, agreed with the minister of Interior’s plan on the release of the inmates considering the high number of innocent people occupying the larger chunk of the prison population.
He said, “The truth is, if we look at it critically, we would discover that there are several people in prison that shouldn’t be. So many of them shouldn’t be in detention.
“So, if they are going to do a proper review of cases of prisoners, surely there would be more than 30% due for release, that is the truth. Many of them are awaiting trials for many years, for offenses that were not fully investigated. Many of them are innocent and many of them are there that have spent 90% of their time already in prison for minor offenses and they deserve a kind of amnesty or pardon.
“I think I agree with the minister that we need to decongest the prisons.
… Public Affairs Analyst Perspective
Habeeb White, a public analyst, told PLATFORM TIMES that the interface of prison decongestion was a well-meaning one which would foster the effectiveness of the criminal justice system.
Emphasizing that many of the inmates are in the prisons for reasons they can barely explain, Mr White explained that the evidence to prove the guilty or not, often vanishes with time.
He said, “The idea of releasing 30% prisoners is a good one for these persons but there should be a social welfare package for them. It is not just about releasing them. It is about releasing them for a better life. It is not their fault that the government is not diligent in their investigation and prosecution processes and they should not be victims of bad circumstances.
“I want to also say with all due respect that the Nigeria Police Force is that body that has caused more of these problems. For every person you see awaiting trial for no just cause, the Police have contributed immensely to their unfortunate circumstances. We have seen a lot of instances in court. You see people being charged for allegations that can never be substantiated or sustained. Many times, there are no witnesses due to bad and inconclusive investigations.
“If the government is releasing people, the government should also educate and orientate the people that are contributing to the situation so as to avoid repetition.
He added that the move by the government may or may not be politically motivated, noting that “even the prisoners too are Nigerians and they deserve the right to vote in the coming election.
Mr White concluded by stating that the motive behind the mass release of inmates across the country is not the concern, but the hope for a better life for the inmates to be released.
…. Once A Prisoner; Always A Prisoner, Says Public Analyst
In his words, “It is always sad seeing people that have been in custody for years and at the end of the day, their cases are struck out because of lack of due diligence in prosecution by the government. We have had instances where people have spent the prime time of their lives in prison for no just cause and the bad thing is that, there is no proper provision for absorbing them into the larger society. It is so sad that many of them have been neglected and abused simply because they were once prisoners.
“You know in Nigeria, it is always assumed that the moment you have been to prison, it is assumed that you are a convict. Nobody cares whether you are awaiting trial or you have been convicted and/or discharged by court. The tag in the larger society is that you are an ex-convict.” He said.
…. Skeptical Public Views
A graduate of Philosophy from the University of Lagos, Identified as Hawau, told PLATFORM TIMES, that the federal government’s plan to release inmates is like ‘a two edged sword’, considering the height of insecurity in the country.
“If we welcome more hardened criminals back into society, the insecurity and crime of the country will skyrocket excessively.
“We’re already in a state of severe insecurity in the country, bringing out hardened criminals in the name of decongestion will do nothing but fuel it.
However, she expressed her fears, stating that “this is Nigeria, where bribery and corruption is the order of the day, we may say it will be strictly for changed prisoners and the officials might smuggle in a couple of the bad eggs.
“In conclusion, the federal government needs to use more land to build prisons, because as this country is going, the people that need to be locked up forever are more than enough in the society, we don’t need hardened criminals joining us.
“Exactly same thing when Buhari welcomed some of the Boko haram terrorists that were caught back into the society. Bunch of clowns. Exactly no way they would convict their machinery.” She stated.
Omobolanle, a stone embellisher at the Amolaso area of Abeokuta, Ogun State, expressed her concern on the possibility that the inmates to be released may come back to pollute the society.
She said, “Well, some innocent people will definitely be released which is a good thing by the way but even in well doing some bad eggs would also come out and one of two things may occur, it’s either they go back to their criminal ways and keep on polluting the environment till they die or they repent and decide to become better citizens for the development of the country.”
A Nestle Staff member, Yomi, expressed disappointment in the government and the judicial system and lamented the high percentage of prisoners against the tried convicts.
In his words, “First of all, if 70% of the prisoners are unlawfully convicted by a law enforcement body then we have failed as a country. The government and the judicial system are a mess.” He said.
“When convicting someone there has to be a vivid investigation and critical evidence before you could put someone in police custody, not to mention a prison.
“Now, based on how Nigeria is now set up, this prisoner’s release may or may not have a negative impact on the society.
“We have captive bandits, boko haram, ritualists, human traffickers, kidnappers, armed robbers and so on in how various prisons across the nation and when the news of release of prisoners has already gone viral, people will start clamouring to get one or two of there people out of the prison, and with enough money u can get just anybody out of prison even if it’s a boko haram leader or kidnap kingpin.
“Now that our judicial and executive arms of government in Nigeria are as corrupt as our politicians, with their egocentric attitude, the right people that this process was made for won’t get the justice they deserve we would end up releasing demons into the society again.” Yomi Submitted.
Agbo Samuel, a Businessman from Enugu State, said, “It is quite pathetic the kind of nation we find ourselves in. The prison or correctional center is another world entirely on its own, due to the congestion of prisoners that have been kept there.
“We have people who have been there for a very long time; those that were unlawfully detained and some have been forgotten; all these boil down to our judicial system which is so poor and pathetic.
“According to law, I believe there is a certain amount of days one can spend in detention before he can be charged to court but it is quite unfortunate that we now see people who spend years in detention out of which many have died in prison while awaiting trial. These are reasons for the congestion of prisons.
“Hence, anyone who has the privilege to visit prisons to see what’s going on and the kind of people that find themselves there, one would be grateful to God.
“For this reason, I wouldn’t mince it when I say about 80% of the prisoners are dealing with one illness or the other.
“A correctional center should be a place for rehabilitation; it should be a place where one goes to and comes back softened or learned the values of life.
“However, the reverse is the case for us here. You see people go to prison and return with reddened eyes and improved criminal instinct, due to the hardship and pains they get subjected to in the prison yards.
“In the saner climes, people who go to prison learn and acquire skills which would make them assets to society. But now when a ring or cult leader is being jailed, proper reorientation and rehabilitation is not done.
“Hence, when these people are released from prison, they come back more hardened and continue to torment the society more systematically.
So, what is the place of the correctional center?
“For this reason, the government should look at the root of this prison congestion problem. Ensuring that offenders are trial and taken to court as and when due, not to keep piling trials without making room for more prison cells.
“If the government wants to correct this, I think the judicial system should be first diagnosed and not waste time on cases.
“For example, when the politician is being arrested for a crime, they swift into action, while the case is different for a common man.” Samuel Opined.
…The Decongestion Interface
Rauf Aregbesola, minister of Interior, wrote to the Nigerian state governors forum requesting to meet and discuss the prison decongestion interface.
This was disclosed in a statement by the Minister’s Media Adviser, Sola Fasure, in November, stating that the minister would be “meeting with state governors to agree on the mass release of at least 30 percent of convicts from correctional facilities across the country.”
It was further explained in the statement that the decongestion interface is necessitated as a result of the high number of inmates held for contravening various state laws.
He noted that over 70 percent of the inmates were awaiting trials. While the larger population were in custody for fouling state government laws as less than 10 percent of them were federal government offenders.
Aregbesola said that they were therefore being kept under the legal jurisdiction of their respective states.
The minister added that the decongestion of the 253 custodial centers nationwide was necessary as some of the inmates have no reason to remain in custody.
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