By Murtala Adewale, Kano
A lawyer, Femi Falana, has faulted the prolonged detention of suspects in police custody without contact with relatives or access to legal aid.

Besides, the Senior advocate insisted that suspects are permitted under the law to demand a lawyer before police interrogation and when taken to court.

Falana, who made the submission while speaking with journalists in Kano, also worried over the incapacitation of poor citizens who could not afford the services of lawyers but facing prosecution.

Falana delivered papers on the effective Administration of the Criminal Justice System in Kano at a capacity-building workshop organized by Kurawa, Husseini, and Associates in collaboration with the Kano Ministry of Justice for state prosecutors.

According to the senior advocate, many people are presently languishing in police custody because they lack the resources to afford the service of law and the police failed to provide such necessities. He posited that police would have run foul of the law to keep a suspect without contacting a relative.

Besides, Falana advocated the reinvigoration of the office of public defender in Kano to afford legal services to poor citizens who are in dire need of lawyers but lack the resources.

He urged the state government to emulate states like Lagos that created the office of the public defender across every local government in Lagos to improve the administration of the justice system in Kano.

Falana said like legal aid with offices across the 36 states, the Kano State Government must employ lawyers in the office of the public defender to take on the cases of the poor across the 44 local government areas.

He called for improved welfare and continued capacity building for state prosecutors to encourage effective and efficient performance.

Convener of the workshop, Sadiq Sabo Kurawa, said the training was to equip lawyers with what it takes for them to be fully educated in the administration of Criminal Justice in Nigeria.

He said the participants are expected to take advantage of the practical knowledge to broaden their professional skills while applying the wealth of experience showcased by the resource persons on the field.