A National Disgrace: Awaiting Trial Prisoners

By Fred Igbeare

As national discussion spotlights the compelling conflict among Nigeria’s political princes, we must not ignore one other national disgrace: the Awaiting Trial Prisoners (ATPs).  Their conditions are intolerable.  Many of them have been incarcerated way beyond what their accused crimes call for.  After all, our new democratic precept suggests that a person is innocent until proven guilty.  So, why punish the presumed innocent?

The government admittedly has been making progress on the problem.  That progress has been too slow and too short.  A goal here is to have no single ATP, not even one, in prison beyond the legal limit.  How the law treats the least powerful in a society can determine much more than you think the survival of that society.  People are less likely to promote a society that doesn't protect them.  They are more apt to pull it down!

In a country where a class of those seeking political power are closet killers, to go by the streams of assassinations, the ATPs face a bleak future if their fates are left to politicians alone. Concerned and compassionate citizens can compel quicker changes by highlighting the condition of the ATPs, many of whom can't lift a hand to defend themselves.  We must join hands to aerate this stench, and take specific steps to ensure that the dirt doesn’t pile up again.

In the fight against this injustice, human rights organizations like the CLO have been doing a wonderful job.  As a result, inroads are being made into erasing this national disgrace.  Reports put the number of awaiting trial prisoners at 25,000 out of the country’s about 40,000 prisoners!  In late August, Attorney General Bayo Ojo was in the news saying 10,000 inmates had been cleared for release.  That takes a big chunk out of the pile!  Those not cleared are said to be mostly armed robbery suspects.  Yet, they are innocent—until proven guilty.  Why keep holding them?  To keep dispensing injustice?

Given the record of law enforcement officers in abusing power, no one can claim convincingly that all those remaining ATPs could ever be convicted of armed robbery.  Confirming this assertion is the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crimes (UNODC) which deserves commendation for examining the problem.  From 2000 to 2005, there were 5,883 robbery suspects in four selected prisons (Ikoyi, Oko, Agodi and Kaduna Central), according to a Vanguard 1^st September 2006 report on the UNODC effort.  Of this number, 48 were convicted and 4,014 acquitted!  Do the math. 

Let’s assume, anyway, that tomorrow all ATPs get released.  Who is to say we won’t have a repeat of the problem?  Compounded by brutal military regimes, this accumulated mess had originated in years of national apathy towards human rights. The setting for a replay is still there, isn’t it?  Have the police stopped arresting people to be kept indefinitely unless money exchanges hands?  Have the courts stopped being sluggish in dispensing justice?   Have we stopped being mostly indifferent to the conditions of our fellow citizens?  Isn’t our mantra still: “All for none and one for self,” rather than “All for one and one for all”?

Consider this.  If the ATPs were political prisoners, would we have the same historically lax reaction?  Compared to high profile political prisoners, like say, the then General Olusegun Obasanjo, the ATPs have gotten a very, very raw deal.  Imagine the outrage of having 25,000 political prisoners?  True indeed, paupers and princes get treated differently.  The law, nonetheless, should be no respecter of persons.  Given realities on the ground, perhaps that’s an illusion, but it’s a standard worth striving for.

What kind of society are we trying to build?  We, or anybody else, are not likely to build a perfect society.  Absent divine intervention, such a society is not within the grasp of human ingenuity.  God help us all!  We however can still try to do the best we can.  We certainly can do more for the awaiting trial prisoners.  Most of them are victims of things we can fix: abuse of police power and an inefficient judicial system.   

Achieving that fix may turn out to be an ongoing, unending process.  Okay . . . but we can have a working model for measuring success to continue refining the solution.  That solution entails that no ATP be held beyond the two to three months constitutional limit, which is quite long.  Over that limit, until it’s changed, the government has to pay huge compensations to the victims. 

For those regaining their freedom, the issue of compensation for wrongful imprisonment may continue to be a far-fetched dream. By conventional logic, relief at being released at all, rather than dying in prison like others, may just be their predominant perspective.  Powerless though they may be to press this demand, we as a nation owe it to them, and to ourselves to take action.  For those that have died in prison, their families deserve compensation as well.  Even if the government has to take money from the present surplus foreign reserves for this purpose, it would be worthwhile.

The overall solution must indeed tackle a key cause of the ATP buildup: the length (or lack) of trials.  On average, the waiting time for trials is put at five to 10 years!  Under the “holding charge” miasma, a suspect may get locked up without trial while law(less) officers stretch investigations ad infinitum!  This practice must stop, with officials found abusing power penalized in some effective way. 

Between the three arms of government and the press as watchdog, a sustainable solution can be worked out quickly.  When the next politician comes asking for your vote, please be sure to bring up the issue of our awaiting trial prisoners. 

In the end, we need to give more people a sense of belonging, a sense of ownership in the Nigerian state.  The current situation is creating more outcasts which is dangerous.  Let’s show greater compassion for the ATP victims and their families.  Let’s give our citizens more reasons to build up this thing called Nigeria, rather than the incentives to pull it down. 

(fredlintaz@yahoo.com)

Robot  Villager

# 1 A National Disgrace: Awaiting Trial Prisoners By Fred Igbeare As national discuss...Read the full article. Posted by Robot| 23.09.2006 04:01

gwobezentashi  Villager

# 2 After all, our new democratic precept suggests that a person is innocent until proven guilty. So, why punish the presumed innocent? Thank you Fred Igbeare for drawing attention to this national embarassment. You have put it mildly, it is a precept fundamental to natural justice that an accused is innocent until adjudged guilty in a court of law of competent jurisdiction. This is not a new precept as it has been in our laws from time immemorial but one would expect that under a democratic dispensation, it would be given greater prominence and acknowledgement. Unfortunately, we live in a country where compliance with the laws appear to be in its breach, where the government is seen to be disobedient to the laws from which it derives its authority. We live in a country where once you are accused, you are deemed guilty and your freedom becomes a liberty for others to toy with. This is deeply ingrained in the psyche of many Nigerians and fuels the lynch mob mentality-no due process of law, no entitlement to basic human rights. If you cast your eye over the various debates on the NVS, you will see how this mentality of guilt by accusation is freely canvassed without any qualms as to how it debases its proponents. The intolerance to contrary opinion is a reflection of this mindset as is the "I know it all" syndrome. We know it all but look at the condition of our country! Look at the condition of our individual lives! We are so disgusted by the level of crime and corruption that woe betides anyone who is accused of crime! His rights deserves to be summarily extinguished. The further issue arises from the conditions of the prisons themselves. Most reports suggest that our prisons are unfit for human habitation. Infact some have argued that they are unfit for animals. That we have at the helm of our affairs, an ex prisoner who should appreciate first hand how inhuman the conditions are and the injustices within our criminal justice system, it remains a deep scar that demeans us all. It is all further compounded by the fact that some ATPs are in prison for periods longer than the maximum periods prescribed for the offences they are charged with. Nothing could be more a travesty than this, that a Nigerian citizen could be deprived of his liberty for a crime he did not commit and locked away for an indefinite period of time and forgotten in conditions unfit for humans. It is indeed a crying shame. Aluta! Gwobezentashi Posted by gwobezentashi| 23.09.2006 04:59

purple  Villager

# 3 As always, it comes down to accountability. If the laws are on the books as to the Nigerian citizens rights, who's job is it to enforce these rights? Surely, someone is being paid to work in that capacity. Responsibility for the ATP is under someone's job description. Who is watching to see that citizens' rights are not abused? Thank goodness for the Civil Liberties Organization, but they can't do it alone. The various District Attorneys really need to step up and earn their keep. Posted by purple| 23.09.2006 12:38

fredlintaz  Villager

# 4 Progress is taking too long! Haba! _________________________________________________________________________ Thisday newsreport titled "Obasanjo Orders Audit of Awaiting Trial Inmates" From Josephine Lohor in Abuja, 11.30.2006: President Olusegun Obasanjo has directed the immediate commencement of a case-by- case audit of awaiting trial inmates who have spent upwards of five years in all prisons in the country. The President gave the instruction after he received the report of the Presidential Commission on the Reform of the Administration of Justice in Nigeria, at State House, yesterday. He said the audit was with a view to releasing those who are being held for minor offences, those whose case files are missing, those above sixty years of age, those with life-threatening diseases or those who have stayed on death row for upwards of ten years. President Obasanjo also directed the Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of the Federation to set up a small team to review all the different reports prepared by various Committees for the Administration on the Judiciary, Police, Prisons and the administration of justice, and submit recommendations for implementation. The President, while commending members of the commission, assured them that the recommendations would be studied and implemented without delay, and thanked the George Soros Foundation for support to the commission. Earlier, Justice Akintola Ejiwunmi, chairman of the commission, had told the President that there was urgent need for human resources reform, institutional and legal reforms, as well as improved funding of the administration of justice in the country. He also strongly recommended an audit of all awaiting trial inmates, audit of all prisons and police stations in the country and the convening of a Presidential Forum on the Administration of Justice in the country. Posted by fredlintaz| 01.12.2006 00:58

I Love Nigeria  Villager

# 5 Thank you Mr. Fred Igbeare , for highlighting this …. All important issue, of Nigerian citizens who are in Nigerian prisons without trial… and endlessly so… thanks for bringing this all important subject matter to our attention. WHAT A COINCIDENT OR CONVERGENCE OF EVENTS? This was posted yesterday as well:Written by Paul Adujie Wednesday, 29 November 2006 http://www.nigeriavillagesquare.com/articles/paul-adujie/the-nigerian-bar-association-the-discoverers-the-rule-of-law-due-pro.html Is the NBA unaware of the putrid conditions in Nigerian Prisons? Is the NBA aware that our constitution imposes a limitation on how long a Nigerian could be held without trial? (A true violation of the rule of law and due process to be held without trial) Especially in detentions without electricity, water, air or food! There seem to be some type of conspiracy against the poor in Nigeria OR why is it that the Nigeria Bar Association frequently embark on nationwide strike in the name of the rule of law and due process as it affect corrupt looting governors who get impeachment notices from the EFCC? But the same NBA never embarks on ANY meaning action on behalf of our fellow citizens who are detained without trial in fetid and putrid conditions? Why does The Guardian Editorial Board expend its time praising the Attorneys General of our thirty-six states for meeting in Benin City to talk about the rule of law and due process, ONLY in particular reference to “the gale of impeachment of governors”? Curiously, these 36 Attorneys General of our states, just happens to be appointees of the 36 states governors… some of whom, just also happen to be the target of the EFCC, the EFCC that is being maligned for doing its constitutional duties I wish that I am the Attorney General of the Federation of Nigeria I will not loose a night sleep over the deliberations and resolutions of 36 Attorneys General, who wasted valuable time, in their efforts to protect their employers, (the state governors) some of whom have pillaged and plundered Nigeria. Hence some of them are getting the consequences of their looting and thieving activities…. Visits from Mallam Ribadu and his EFCC staff! Posted by I Love Nigeria| 01.12.2006 02:39

I Love Nigeria  Villager

# 6 Excerpts from: http://www.nigeriavillagesquare.com/articles/paul-adujie/the-nigerian-bar-association-the-discoverers-the-rule-of-law-due-pro.html The prison conditions in Nigeria are beyond terrible. The prisons are over-crowded. . Most of those persons, particularly in Lagos , were picked up at bus stops.. for “wandering” or “loitering” some were unemployed persons, on their way to the commercial centers in search of employment. My personal visits to detained “clients” were lessons in ultimate horrors and brutality to those detained in those prisons squalid conditions. Inmates in detentions in Nigeria whether such detention is deserved or not, usually, eventually suffer bed-sores and skin lesions and malnutrition with accompany emaciated haggard looks and are without exception, extremely underweight. With these abject and squalid conditions of thousand of detained Nigerians without trials, currently in Nigerian detentions, under the noses of the NBA! Why is the shrill-shouting about the rule of law and due process by the NBA and the Nigerian press, always in reference to corrupt governors that are facing impeachments and or reserved for vice president Atiku due to the legal travails which he brought upon himself? Why is the NBA not shouting itself hoarse, regarding our congested prisons and those Nigerian citizens falsely detained because such detainees would not part with a twenty Naira note demanded of them by a corrupt police officer at a road-block checkpoint? The NBA is aware that there are poor Nigerians in detentions/jails awaiting trials for upwards of ten years, and that some of those detainees were falsely accused. Some of those detainees that are awaiting trials, are there because they rightly refused to pay bribes or in some cases, because they could afford the amount demanded by police men. How could these poor persons afford a simple lawyer, let alone a SAN or ten SANs as Mr. Atiku and the some in the Nigerian press, (which he now appears to have in his pocket) relishes? The NBA engages in its rallying cries, each time, one corrupt, decadent governor of one the thirty-six states is impeached! This trend makes me want to ask whether the Nigerian Bar Association is aware that there are, hundreds of thousands of our fellow citizens, full-blooded Nigerians, who languish and continue to languish in jails throughout our nation, often for about ten years or even more? Surely, there is injustice in the land, no doubt, injustice to the poor, that is! Meanwhile, the NBA willfully ignore and neglect the plights and predicaments of these thousands of Nigerians in detention jails throughout the nation, these poor Nigerians who are awaiting trials or their day in court. But of course, these categories of Nigerians awaiting trials in detentions cannot afford SANs like san-san, as the governors and Mr. Atiku does regularly when they are in trouble with the EFCC and Nigerian laws! I have read glowing press reports in praise or admiration of Mr. Atiku for instance, as some pressmen are in awe of Mr. Atiku because he can afford the hiring more Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SAN) than every other Nigerian, alive or dead have ever done. He is reported to have hired ten SANs! Posted by I Love Nigeria| 01.12.2006 02:51

Abraxas  Villager

# 7 Hi, folks! I am wondering why it took General Okikiolakan Matiyu Aremu Segun OBASANJO (GCFR), himself a former prison inmate, over SEVEN (7) good years of nonchalance to SUDDENLY remember not to forget the plight of the several thousands of probably innocent Nigerians, unfairly detained under horrendously life-threatening conditions in the several prisons scattered across Nigeria. Tommorrow, una go say, say Abacha do dis; Abacha do dat. I beg, jo, com'o't make man pikin see word, 'jare. Muchas gracias. Don Juan Carlos ABRAXAS (III) Posted by Abraxas| 01.12.2006 02:58