#EndSARS: Falana asks minister to review plan on N500m fine for convicts

• 848 lives lost to extrajudicial violence since 2020, says Global Rights
Human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, has called on Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, to review planned payment of N500 million for the release of convicts in the 36 states of the federation and Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

This came as Nigeria marked the third anniversary of the 2020 #EndSARS protests against police brutality.

Falana’s reaction followed a statement by the minister to decongest correctional centres by ensuring payment of fines imposed on about 4,000 convicts by courts across the country.

Tunji-Ojo had concluded that the sum would be paid within the next four weeks.

Falana, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria and Chairman, Alliance on Surviving COVID-19 and Beyond (ASCAB), lauded the initiative. He, however, urged the minister to request, rather, that President Bola Tinubu and state governors grant pardon to the convicts.

He also drew the minister’s attention to the plight of inmates at the Ikoyi Correctional Centre; whose case files were destroyed when Magistrate Court and High Court buildings were burnt during the protests.

Falana said: “While the minister deserves commendation for the initiative, we are compelled to call for a review of the plan. The N500 million earmarked for payment of fines should be spent on welfare of inmates in correctional centres, while alternative decongestion policies are considered.

“It is on record that the Federal Government had released 7,813 inmates from correctional centres across the country during the outbreak of COVID-19, to curb spread of the virus among inmates. The convicts and awaiting-trial inmates were granted amnesty and released on the orders of former President Muhammadu Buhari, as part of the prison decongestion policy of the government.”

He urged the minister to request that the Chief Justice of Nigeria and Chief Judges of all states and the FCT visit correctional centres and exercise their powers under the Criminal Justice (Release from Custody) (Special Provisions) Act, by ordering the release of all inmates whose detention is either manifestly unlawful; or who have been in custody, whether on remand or otherwise, for periods longer than the maximum period of imprisonment, which they could have served, had they been convicted of the offences in respect of which they are detained.”

The Guardian gathered that some courts in Lagos, last week, rejected the arraignment of suspects by the police due to congestion at correctional facilities in the state.

Also, the Mass Atrocities Tracker by Global Rights, an international human rights and governance capacity-building organisation, revealed that between 2020 and the first half of 2023, at least 848 lives were lost to extrajudicial violence.

The organisation was concerned that during the first half of 2023 alone, at least, 127 people fell victim to extrajudicial killings.

In a statement to commemorate the #EndSARS anniversary, Executive Director, Abiodun Baiyewu, said the statistics underscores the urgency needed to address the issue.