Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Dr Charles Mekwunye, has called on President Bola Tinubu to urgently intervene in Nigeria’s failing justice system by ordering the immediate release or arraignment of detainees held without trial, some for over a decade.

Speaking at the recent public presentation of “Honourable Justice Olukayode Ariwoola, CJN, Through the Cases”, a book he co-authored to honour the former Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Mekwunye warned that thousands of Nigerians are being unlawfully imprisoned simply because they are poor.

“These Nigerians are in detention not because they are guilty, but because they are helpless and voiceless. You won’t find the children or relatives of the President, Senate President, Governors, or Justices among them,” he said.

Mekwunye called on the President to issue an Executive Order directing that all detainees held for over six months without trial be either charged to court or released unconditionally, with compensation and access to medical and psychological care. He also demanded accountability from law enforcement officials responsible for such unlawful detentions.

While acknowledging that the issue predates the current administration, he stressed that the burden of fixing it now rests on Tinubu.

“You are the President of all Nigerians, including the poor languishing in prisons without trial,” he declared. The book presentation celebrated the judicial legacy of Justice Ariwoola, Nigeria’s 22nd CJN and Chairman of the Body of Benchers.

Mekwunye described him as humble, incorruptible, and committed to strengthening judicial independence and restoring public confidence in the courts.

Beyond the accolades, Mekwunye used the occasion to spotlight two urgent challenges facing the justice system—unlawful detentions and the misuse of confessions in criminal trials.

He criticised the continued reliance on “trial within trial” to determine the admissibility of confessions, despite clear statutory reforms under the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) 2015.

He cited Charles v. People of Lagos State (2023), where the Supreme Court affirmed that confessions must be recorded electronically or made in the presence of counsel to be admissible.

“It is scandalous that trial courts continue to ignore this law. Statutory law supersedes common law, yet our courts still act as if nothing has changed,” he said.

He urged heads of courts present at the event to immediately instruct judges to stop admitting confessions obtained unlawfully and to uphold the rights of the accused, especially those without access to legal representation.

“We are telling our judges: the law has changed—now you must change,” Mekwunye declared.