To ease pressure on Lagos prisons

A working coalition of stakeholders working on justice system sector reform, the Criminal Justice Network of Nigeria (CJNN), in collaboration with Human Rights Law Services (HURILAW), have called for the broader application of community service sentencing across correctional centres in Lagos State as a strategy to decongest correctional service centres and improve the administration of criminal justice.

The call was made during a stakeholder engagement with the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) aimed at strengthening partnerships to advance the implementation and monitoring of community service orders within the justice system.

The meeting, supported by the German Catholic development agency, Misereor, brought together civil society organisation from various law chambers in Lagos to deliberate on the challenges and opportunities surrounding non-custodial sentencing.

Convener of CJNN, Nathaniel Ngwu, explained that community service is a court order that allows offenders convicted of minor offences to compensate society through unpaid work rather than serving custodial sentences in correctional facilities.

According to him, the measure is designed for offenders who would ordinarily attract short-term imprisonment but do not pose a threat to public safety.

“Community service is an order of the court whereby an offender is given the opportunity to compensate society for the wrong committed by performing work for the community instead of being sent to prison,” Ngwu said.

He added that serious offenders who pose risks to society do not qualify for such sentencing, noting that the philosophy behind community service is to ensure that punishment also contributes positively to society.

“The offender is required to perform useful and unpaid work that benefits the community. It is a constructive way to punish offenders while also introducing ethical values into their lives,” he explained.

Ngwu noted that the concept of community service dates back to the British Mandate administration in Palestine and has since been adopted in many jurisdictions around the world, including the United States, where offenders are allowed to perform supervised work for city or county authorities as an alternative to incarceration.

In Africa, he said, countries such as South Africa, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Uganda, Kenya and Burkina Faso have implemented similar non-custodial sentencing frameworks, with Zimbabwe widely regarded as a model within the region.

He stressed that community service offers several benefits for the offender, the prison system and the state.
One of the key advantages, according to him, is cost effectiveness.

“The cost of maintaining inmates in prisons is extremely high when compared to community service. When you consider feeding, maintenance, supervision and the construction of new prison facilities, the economic benefits of community service become very clear,” he said.

Ngwu also highlighted the impact of non-custodial sentences on reducing repeat offences.

He further noted that community service could help offenders maintain employment and continue supporting their families, thereby reducing the social stigma associated with imprisonment.

Despite the legal provisions encouraging the use of community service, Ngwu said its application in Nigeria has been limited due to logistical challenges and inadequate reporting mechanisms within the justice system.

According to him, magistrates and judges are sometimes unable to apply community service sentences effectively because they lack reports from relevant officers who should advise the courts on the availability of community service placements and the suitability of offenders.

“Sometimes a magistrate may wish to sentence an offender to community service, but because the necessary reports are not available, the person ends up being sent to a correctional centre,” he said.

He said the initiative would involve collaboration with the Nigerian Correctional Service, the Ministry of Justice and other justice sector institutions to track compliance and strengthen coordination among stakeholders.

Ngwu, however, noted that the major challenge confronting the Lagos State judiciary in implementing community service orders remains logistics.

He said addressing the logistical gaps would be critical to ensuring that offenders sentenced to community service are properly supervised and prevented from absconding.

He therefore urged the NHRC and other justice sector institutions to support the initiative, stressing that sustained collaboration would be necessary to ensure the effective implementation of community service as a viable alternative to custodial sentencing.

On their part, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) stressed the need for a clear and coordinated framework to effectively monitor the application of non-custodial sentences in Nigerian courts.

The NHRC Director, Lagos State, Lucas Koyejo noted that while efforts to encourage non-custodial sentencing are commendable, it is important to recognise that sentencing decisions remain the discretion of judges.
“We need to be very clear on the modality of this monitoring of the courts.

Sentence judgment is still the discretion of the court and the judge. Judges are free to apply either a non-custodial sentence or a custodial sentence, as long as the law governing the offence does not specifically require a non-custodial sentence,” Koyejo said.

According to him, monitoring efforts must also consider the challenges judges face when applying non-custodial sentences, including the availability of facilities and skills needed to properly implement such alternatives.

He explained that correctional centres already have non-custodial units responsible for supervising offenders sentenced to alternatives such as community service.

The NHRC further emphasised the need for collaboration among the judiciary, the Ministry of Justice, the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), correctional authorities and community service departments to ensure effective monitoring of cases involving minor offences eligible for non-custodial sentencing