The joy of some awaiting trial inmates in Akwa Ibom knew no bounds when they regained their freedom and were released unconditionally by the Chief Judge, Ekaete Fabian-Obot during an inspection tour of some correctional facilities in the state.
The inspection of the correctional facilities took the Chief Judge to four custodian centres located in Ikot Abasi, Eket, Ikot Ekpene and Uyo with about 20 inmates regaining their freedom after spending more time than they would have served if they had been convicted by the courts.
Most of the cases that were reviewed by the Chief Judge had to do with stealing, unruly behaviour, conspiracy and attempts to cause a breach of peace and being found with substances suspected to be Indian hemp.
The inspection of the correctional facilities, which brought together the key institutions in the administration of criminal justice such as the police, officials of the state ministry of justice and the Nigerian Correctional Services underscored the need for seamless collaboration between all the agencies.
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For instance, while the police would arrest a suspect, they have to seek the advice of the state Attorney General on the matter and during this period, the suspect could be remanded in custody awaiting trial. Most times, the case files get missing and the police would claim they had been sent to the Attorney General through the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) for legal advice.
Throughout the tour of the custodian centres, one sticking point that hugely affected the prompt administration of justice was the issue of missing case files in which the police represented by officers in charge of the legal department known popularly as OC legal and the DPP were always trading blames.
The Chief Judge frowned at growing cases of missing files warning those involved that they were dealing with human beings who had rights that should be protected as when the suspects were remanded in custody and were not brought to court for trial.
Again, the correctional service in highlighting the challenges of taking defendants to courts in the state with few vehicles, blamed the situation on poor logistics while the police blamed it on frequent transfer of investigating police officers from one command to another.
During the inspection visit which saw many inmates who were awaiting trial being released unconditionally by the Chief Judge, there were cases which clearly showed man’s inhumanity to fellow man.
For instance, in Ikot Ekpene correctional centre, a man had his 26-year-old son arrested by the police for not being respectful to him as his father and the mother, his son was dumped in the custodian centre for months and no charges were preferred against him.
‘Why did you have to take your son to the custodian centre,’’ the Chief Judge asked.
“He was always misbehaving, and showing disrespect to me and my wife,’’ the father answered.
“I wanted my son to be taught a lesson on how to be submissive,’’ he added.”
The courtroom which was filled up by many people was thrown into deep emotions and sympathy, the Chief Judge after asking other questions told the man’s son to go and prostrate to his parents who were in court. This he did and was told to ask that he should be pardoned by his parents.
“You are old enough to be a man, are you ready to be of good behaviour? Go and prostrate to your parents,” she told the young man.
The father was also asked to lift up his son and embrace him, warning the son to be of good behaviour and conduct. He was discharged unconditionally by the Chief Judge.
Another case that saw the court erupt with anger was that of a 15-year-old girl who was remanded in custody by the court for allegedly stealing a phone. While the police said he was 18 years old, the girl said she was 15 years old. The matter did not end there, the girl was asked by the court what took her to be in the custodian centre.
“Why are you here,’’ she was asked. My lord, I was working as a housekeeper for my master, he promised to pay me monthly and to send me to school, but when it was time for me to be paid, he refused. Instead, he was sleeping with me and would give me tablets to take after. When I ran away, he brought the police to arrest me, saying that I stole his phone.
“Yes, OC legal,” the Chief Judge asked.
“Respectfully my lord, the girl is lying, she is a thief, she stole the phone and ran away,’’ the prosecuting police office told the court.
At that point, the Chief Judge interrupted and scolded the police for misleading the court, adding that the young lady was being abused and the police was overlooking it and talking about stealing a phone and still had the guts to prosecute her. The girl had the right to run away from the caretaker,” the Chief Judge said.
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She was subsequently released and handed over to the state ministry of woman affairs for her to be sent to the Divine Home, a centre for the training of those affected by Gender Based Violence in the state with the hope she would be equipped with both education and skills to live a normal life. The controversial mobile phone was to be sold and the proceeds put into the state government coffers.
There are also cases in which defendants were granted bail and nobody came forward to meet the bail conditions, they were returned to the custodian centres. One defendant stayed for two years without anybody coming forward to perfect the bail conditions in cases of stealing and conspiracy.
On why some defendants were ordered to be released but were still in custody, the officials said many times, the defendants were not in court when the order was given and it would become difficult to trace the custodian centres for the affected defendant to be released. They were cases in which defendants were released on health grounds as some of them had come down with various illnesses. Some could barely walk and had to be carried to the court in Ikot Ekpene.
At the end of the court session, the Chief Judge who also donated items of medication to the custodian centres thanked all those involved in the administration of justice in the state for their support including all branches of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) in the state urging them to continue quick dispensation of justice.
