Institute proffers solutions to mitigate security challenges in Nigeria

The Institute of Criminal Justice and Criminology Administration (ICJCA) have concluded arrangements to sponsor and conduct research into security challenges confronting Nigeria’s judiciary system and criminal administration.

The Institute said the criminal justice system and the law enforcement system must engender proper reformation rehabilitative centres for offenders to curb increasing crime in the country.

The Registrar and Chief Executive Officer (ICJCA), Dr Primus Emenuga, who described the level of security challenges in the country as enormous, noted that the institute, as a professional body would align with existing institutions towards generating solutions that would be forwarded to the Federal Government for possible actions.

Emenuga stated this during the institute’s investiture of President, inauguration of council and induction of new members in Lagos.

Emenuga explained: “It seems the executive arm of the federal government are not looking at the advice they are given. But we believe we cannot be like this forever because those ideas that are being churned out by professional bodies and personnel themselves will go a long way in turning things around for this country.

“Now that we have existing council and our president in place, we can now fly in the sense that we can now reach out, brain storm on so many issues confronting security challenges confronting this nation. We will now carry out research and proffer solutions and look for a way of pushing these solutions directly to the federal government, because judicial institutes are not run individually.”

In a paper presentation by an expert on security matters, Michael Imitimi, said that the criminal justice system which is essentially a maze of agencies and processes that seek to control crime, minimize crime and impose penalties for the commission of crimes, hinged the challenges facing the Nigeria law enforcement on leadership corruption, lack of communication gadgets, ill-equipped training schools, abysmal personnel welfare and poor remuneration among others.

Imitimi who spoke on ‘Criminal Justice System in Nigeria, Impact on Law Enforcement and Corrections’, called for synergy among security agencies, adding that it was imperative if the system was to register significant milestone in the fight to stem the tide of horrific crimes in the country.

“The spirit de corps among prisoners helps to sustain relationship outside the prisons, which could be exploited for future crimes. This will mean a continuing drift along the “free” recidivism. It is there concluded that both the conditions in the prisons and societal attitudes to ex-prisoners are twin-forces recidivism.”

In his remark, the president and chairman of council, ICJCA, HRM Oba Gbadebo Bajowa, said the institute would endeavour to improve on the existing justice system in Nigeria by developing and providing good but strategic security administrators and defence initiative in both government and private organisations.

While promising to work hard and move the institute to greater heights, Bajowa called for cooperation and commitment among members, stating that incompetence, dishonesty, fraud and any other unethical workplace practice would be sanctioned.

On criteria used on selecting the council members, the registrar said: “We looked at their experience on security issues, you’ll see that majority of them are from core competence areas. All the core competence on the areas of our institute, we make sure they are all in the council so that we won’t be short of when they meet, opinions, contributions from any of these areas.”