By Charles Nwankwo, Abakaliki
An Associate Professor of Law in Ebonyi State University (EBSU) and a former Attorney General and Ebonyi State Commissioner for Justice, Dr. Ben Igwenyi while barring his mind on the issues mitigating the dispensation of justice in Nigeria with The Nigerian Xpress described the inscription ‘Bail is Free’ commonly found in every police station as a mere pretense.
He stated why dispensations of justice were been delayed and also of the view that processes in dispensation of Justice should be reviewed and in effect changes to avoid trampling on human rights.
This inscription ‘Bail is Free’ commonly found in every Police Station, How true is it Sir?
Answer: That is a hypocrisy in Nigeria and something applicable to when people say ‘Police is your friend’ because if one goes to any station and insists on what is written on their wall , the police men will charge the accused person on the offence which the person never thought about in his life .
For instance, in the incident of two fighting, the officers will charge the person who insists on the implementation of ‘Bail is Free’ for an attempted murder which he can’t get bail at the magistrate court and on that note the person will be sent straight to prison and thereafter he will find himself at High Court simply because the person refused to give money, that is why out of reluctance, people will give money particularly an Igbo man who does not want to waste his time.
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For fear of detention, the man will begin to ask how much it will cost him to be free mostly when one knows that putting him in detention will expose his dirty underwears, he will choose even to pay heavily in order to be free from the embarrassment but if it were in the court, the person will not be
asked to pay money for bail, this is the reason why lawyers prefer that their cases should be charged to court where the person’s right will be given to him .
At the court, they will say that someone is bailed at the sum of N1 million, it doesn’t mean that the money will be paid rather it is only when the person runs away that whoever that signs for the person's bail will pay the money and the amount is the person’s worth which can only be paid by the surety, if the accused person runs away.
That is why I said that the write-up on the stations is the hypocrisy among the police officers, they say bail is free if one insists on that, they will give the person the charge which he has not thought about in his life and the Commissioner of Police, Deputy Commissioner down to the IPO (Investigative Police Officer) are aware of the money that is paid because they normally share it at the end of the day though the commissioner will pretend.
The Deputy and the Officer In Charge of Crime will pretend, they will even tell the officer who is handling the case that if he fails to collect certain amount of money he will be removed, that is why those of us who are into day to day practice normally get the information and if the young officer fails the directive, a week or two weeks later, he will be removed and send to another place where he will be redundant.
It is unfortunate and that is why I don’t have respect for any police man even IGP because he did same thing when he was at the lower rank, they know what they are doing right from the post of commissioner to IPO, they are involved in the chain of corruption.
What is your reaction in the issue of dispensation of justice in Nigeria?
My comment on the issue of dispensation of Justice in Nigeria is tasky because it agitates the minds of everyone as it involves prison congestion and the rest of them.
They are man-made issues because if the laws are to be followed, people will not be detained in the correctional centres beyond the stipulated periods, as matter of facts, all strata in the process of dispensation of justice are involved, the judges, magistrates, police , prison authority and the lawyers.
I will take them one after another.
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The lawyers: the lawyers do write series of letters for adjournment, some lawyers will come to court without making proper preparation for their cases and in such situation, they will present letters for adjournment claiming that they are sick or other excuses.
On that situation, the judge will be forced to adjourn particularly in criminal matters because one can’t do a case in criminal issue where the lawyer has written that he is not ready.
Police: Sometimes, police men do charge cases to court without proper investigation, it is called “holding charge “ a case which they know fully that it can’t be tried in a magistrate court yet they will bring it to the same court and when it gets there, the magistrate will make it known that he does not have the jurisdiction to try the matter and the accused person will be sent to the custodial centre pending the legal opinion from the Ministry of Justice even when the officials do not have the right to prosecute and the defendant will be in the prison for months without getting an opinion from the ministry, these are some of the issues.
Concerning the correctional center officials: There is no vehicle to convey the offenders to court, the officials will complain of not having vehicles for the job, for instance in Ebonyi State, all the people who have cases in Ohaozara court are to be transported from Afikpo Correctional Centre to Ohaozara , those who have cases at Isiaka High Court in Ivo LGA are to be transported from Afikpo, thus any day that the vehicles of the prison officials break down, court won’t sit and the same thing is applicable when the officials do not have money for diesel.
It is not exceptional when it involves criminal matters at Ohaukwu LGA, they do come for trial in Abakaliki because they will complain of not having money for fuel or diesel to transport the inmates to
the designated court and the judges at the area will be forced to come to Abakaliki where the inmates will be marched to the courts because of the short distance between the prison and the courts.
Additionally, with regard to the police, the transfer of a police man outside the jurisdiction of the court is another factor, let us assume that an officer is transferred to Sokoto or Bayelsa states, for the person to come back and give evidence is another problem because of transport fare and the matter can’t be handed over to another person based on the fact that another officer may not understand the handwriting that is used, it is only the person who records the statement that the law permits to tender the statement.
As far as the man fails to come, the case will be adjourned until whenever the man makes himself available unless in a situation where one has a powerful complainant who can use his money to transport the police officer in charge and pay for the person’s hotel accommodation but a situation where the case concerns a poor complainant, you can guess what will be the fate of such case, these are the issues.
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Above all: There are no adequate equipment to hear some cases, can one believes that some magistrates are sharing courts, one can imagine where three magistrates are sharing one court , one will sit from 9:00am – 12:00 noon, another will start from 12:00 noon to 3:00 pm or 4:00pm and at times, three magistrate will share one court with the arrangement, one will sit on Mondays Tuesdays and Wednesdays and another will sit on Thursdays and Fridays, these are the responsible factors.
Another one is the scarcity of the judicial officials, we do not have enough judges, one can see a judge having about twenty cases in a days, by the time he takes two or three lengthy cases, he will become tired and more often than not , the courts are not lited in terms of electricity, that is why one will see a judge who will be recording and fanning himself with a paper particularly in Ebonyi State.
Ideally, the courts ought to be fully air conditioned and noiseless but we are begging for ordinary fans perhaps the condition is like that because we do not generate money in the judiciary even now that the government is trying to double the costs of everything, one can imagine where affidavit that used to be N100 or N200 is now N500, the government officials want the judiciary to generate money as if we are into the business of buying and selling and that is why we are suffering.
In some situations, some magistrates who live outside the jurisdiction will not come to the courts or they will come once or twice in a week simply because nobody is checking them and no one dares complain against them otherwise the matters of the person who complains will no longer be heard or when heard, the person will loose whether his client is right or wrong .
These are the things that cause delay in dispensing justice like someone ordinarily supposed to be tried within a week or two and discharged, the person will be there for two or three years .
Sir, Based on the research; the capacity of Abakaliki Correctional Centre is 548 but presently the number of inmates is 1227, what can you say about the situation?
Once a problem is identified, the solutions are already there.
What are the possible solutions to all these enumerated problems?
If there will be enough vehicles to convey the inmates to the courts, there will be no need for the prison authority saying that there is no fuel or diesel because they can go to any part of the state to do their cases, if there will be enough courts for the judges to sit the issue of sharing courts won’t be there.
If there will be enough money to provide for police men who are transferred out of the jurisdiction to come for their cases without thinking about using their own salaries for their transport fares over the government cases.
If the lawyers change from writing frivolous letters of adjournment, the system will improve. If the magistrates or judges who are staying outside Abakaliki or the main towns can be coming to the courts on daily basis and early enough, things will improve and it will fasten trials , if enough facilities are provided in the courts, the legal officers will do well, some judges even come to court through the services of okada men instead of being chauffeur driven like in the olden days.
Nowadays, one can see a magistrate boarding the same commercial vehicle with some persons whose cases are being tried in his court without considering the fact that a violent criminal who is in the same
vehicle can bounce on him, all these factors are obtainable in all parts of the nation not only in Ebonyi State. If all these are addressed, prison congestion will reduce but surprisingly people do not look at the problems as human right issues.