The Nigerian government says it is working assiduously to accelerate the judicial process to ensure speedy trials for inmates awaiting trial.
Nigeria’s Minister of Interior, Dr Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, disclosed this during an unscheduled inspection visit to the Medium Security Custodial Centre in Kuje, Abuja, saying that the government was committed to decongesting correctional centres, especially for awaiting trial inmates.
Tunji-Ojo said that the ministry was working closely with the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) to bridge the gap in the time frame for the conviction of inmates.
“We are working together, looking at inmates that perhaps have spent more time awaiting trial than they would have suffered or spent if they were convicted.
“In this particular facility, over 200 inmates are convicted, while about 804 are awaiting trials, so we have to design a methodology by being innovative.
“In the next couple of weeks or months, you are going to see a drastic reduction in the number of inmates that we have.
“I want to assure you that we are working very closely with the AGF on ways to decongest our correctional centres.
The minister, however, said that a lot of work still needed to be done across the 240 correctional centres across the country.
He said that the ministry would embark on scheduled visits to other correctional centres outside the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) to ascertain their challenges and find possible ways of tackling them.
“We will be able to see things for ourselves so that both the ministry, Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) and other stakeholders will know the right way to intervene in the situation of the correctional service.”
While emphasising the need for collaboration among stakeholders to ensure timely justice delivery, he lauded the dedication of correctional service personnel towards ensuring inmates are properly catered to.
The NBA President, Afam Osigwe, in his remarks, said that he had requested the data of inmates awaiting trial and to know if there were cases pending against them.
“This will help the NBA probe into new units and how lawyers can also come in to move for their release.
“Also, for persons who may have spent a longer time than they would have spent if they were convicted, to see the process we can put in place to get them released,” he said.