Disturbed by the continued rising number of awaiting trial inmates at various correctional centres across the federation, a non-governmental organisation (NGO), Public and Private Development Centre, is considering options to speed up justice delivery.
Speaking at a stakeholders’ meeting in Yola with civil society organisations (CSOs) tagged, “Reforming Pretrial Detention in Nigeria, Phase II,” the centre’s Progrmme Assistant, Hauwa Yusuf, observed that the goal was to address the alarming rise in pre-trial detainees in the nation’s correctional facilities.
She stressed that results could be hastily achieved by promoting virtual court sittings to enhance the speedy delivery of judgments.
Yusuf added that the centre had been able to organise 1,900 virtual court sittings in Adamawa State and had recruited 20 pro bono lawyers to represent those lacking legal representation during trials.
She said: “Out of the 76,189 inmates in Adamawa State, 90 per cent are pre-trial inmates. This number is alarming, and we feel something needs to be done so that those who have minor cases can be released in a way to decongest the correctional facilities.”
Head of Communication and Knowledge Management at PPDC, Munachi Okoro, in a statement, stated that the growing number of pretrial detainees posed a significant human rights concern, thus overwhelming the justice system and correctional facilities.
The statement reads in part: “RPDN Phase II is built upon the pilot initiative and expands to five new locations: Adamawa, Kaduna, Lagos, Nasarawa and Plateau states. The project aims to deploy over 370 law clinicians and 50 pro-bono lawyers to provide legal representation to 1,750 detainees yearly, significantly reducing the pretrial population and strengthening Nigeria’s criminal justice system.”
The meeting brought together key organisations from the justice sector to discuss crucial topics, including communication strategies, resource management and collaborative problem-solving techniques for providing pro-bono legal services, while attempting to improve communication and information sharing among justice sector stakeholders.
