The Nigerian Bar Association recently bemoaned the crisis in the nation’s criminal justice system. According to a report by the NBA Human Rights Institute, every aspect of the criminal justice system – from law enforcement through the judiciary to the prisons – is characterized by inefficiency, corruption, lack of resources and disregard for the due process.

Specifically, the report notes that the nation’s prisons built 70 to 80 years ago, are over-populated by as much as 250 per cent, in contrast to the situation in the United Kingdom where 85,000 prisoners occupy a space meant for 88,000. “Nigeria’s prison system has a complete lack of respect for human life and dignity. This disrespect is manifested by detainees being subjected to physical violence and enduring appalling conditions that violate international standards,” said the document. Detainees, according to the report, are subjected to torture and rape while the system is skewed against the poor and the weak. Stressing the influence of corruption, it observes, “Extortion is prevalent in Nigerian prisons and detention centers, which unquestionably adds to the already strenuous conditions.”

Obviously, each of the tripod institutions, police, court and the prison, that make up the justice system has failed and a far reaching reform is long overdue. An ugly hallmark of the system, over the years, is the alarming number of awaiting trial inmates. The Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Prisons Service, Mr. Olusola Ogundipe, recently disclosed that, as at July 2010, the population of prisoners stood at 47, 628, out of which only 13,300 or 23 per cent were convicted persons and 77 per cent were awaiting-trial inmates. Stressing the need to keep prisoners in a more humane environment, he announced the NPS’s plan to provide extra accommodation in the congested urban prisons.

Legal experts have blamed the trend on the use of “holding charge” to detain people accused of grievous offences such as murder. Using the instrument, the Police usually keep the suspect in detention, while evidence of guilt is sought by rushing to the Magistrate’s Court, an inappropriate institution, to obtain a remand order. Interestingly, this is based on Section 236(3) of the Criminal Procedure Law of Lagos introduced by Edict No 14, 1984 of Lagos, a law with a military origin and that is patently at odds with the 1999 Constitution, which provides for the right to personal liberty and fair hearing.

The nation’s criminal justice system has over time been in the eye of the storm. Amnesty International, the global human rights watchdog, once described it as the “conveyor belt of injustice from beginning to the end.” In a detailed 50-page report, AI said Nigerian prisons are filled with people whose human rights are being systematically violated and revealed how at least 65 per cent of Nigeria’s inmates have never been convicted of any crime, with some awaiting trial for up to 10 years. It also bemoaned the appalling prison conditions, including overcrowding, which damage the physical and mental health of inmates; routine and widespread torture by the police, with confessions extracted used during trials. “Many inmates awaiting trial are effectively presumed guilty...” the body said. Sadly, it was found that most prisoners in Nigeria are too poor to afford a lawyer with only 91 legal aid workers available in a country of 150 million people.

Yet, the government is only remarkable for promises. Previous governments failed woefully in reversing the rot. A former Attorney-General, Chief Bola Ige, announced a 19- point programme of reform which could not be implemented before his death. Former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, pledged to overhaul the dehumanizing prison system after his first-hand experience in Abacha gulag but failed. The promise by the former Interior Minister, Godwin Abbe, that he would reform the battered and slow wheel of justice fell flat.

Police extortion, indiscriminate arrest of persons and extra-judicial killings have placed Nigeria in the bad books of global human rights organizations. The judiciary is short of the needed manpower, courtrooms and equipment to deliver justice speedily, leading to prolonged adjournments. Delayed justice leads to justice being denied. Indeed, the poor justice system is a huge drawback on the economy and a disincentive to foreign investments. Why is the nation’s leadership unable to carry out the necessary turnaround?

Government should adopt a holistic way of reforming the system. The nation should also take a cue from the United States where the prison system, included in concurrent legislative list, is jointly managed and funded by the federal and state governments to combat prison overcrowding, under-funding and under-staffing. Nigeria’s centralized military-like police force should be decentralized to bring policing closer to the community.

Governments at all levels should establish offices of public defender and fund them properly to assist the poor to get justice. Besides, there is a need to allocate funds for the expansion and building of more prisons, computerise judicial functions and end the tradition of judges writing in long hand to facilitate quick dispensation of justice. Government should smash the magistrate-police racket that specialise in extorting money from people. Policemen who specialise in detaining people for pecuniary means should be brought to justice. The system should be purged of corrupt judges.