Ali Abare, Lafia
Reasons have emerged as to why prosecuting criminal cases in Nasarawa State often take longer than necessary.
It was observed that the state Ministry of Justice is grossly understaffed, with only 29 lawyers prosecuting 707 criminal as well as over 400 civil cases across courts located both within and outside the state.
The statistics may even rise as available data indicate that the over 1000 criminal and civil cases are only those recorded in October 2018, comprising of cases ranging from murder, armed robbery and rape.
Available records show that High Court 2 Lafia, has the highest number of criminal cases with 238 pending trials, while the High Court I being presided over by the State Chief Judge, Justice Umaru Dikko, has 47 criminal cases ongoing.
Similarly, High Court I Keffi has the lowest with 12 cases.
Also, High Court 4 Lafia has 45, High Court 5 Lafia, 68, High Court 2 Keffi, 70, High Court Akwanga and Nasarawa have 97 and 37 criminal cases respectively.
In the vicinity of the FCT, Maraba High Court 1, 2 and 3 have 25, 27 and 16 criminal cases respectively while High Court Karu has 27 cases.
Commenting over the development, State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Barr. Abdulkarim Kana, disclosed that, aware of the pressing challenges confronting the ministry, the state government gave the approval for the employment of additional 20 lawyers.
Kana said the recruitment process has reached advanced stage, with close to 400 applications already received.
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“Yes, we only have 29 lawyers to prosecute our cases but we are also in the process of recruiting 20 more. The only challenge is that we are looking for competent lawyers with years of experience,” he stated.
He further disclosed that the state government has also carried out major interventions to ensure speedy dispensation of justice in the state.
The Attorney-General listed some of these interventions to include, construction of new High Court headquarters in Lafia, which has five court halls and the refurbishing of the Keffi High Court in conjunction with the state judiciary.
He added that the state government has also built two new High Court complex in Mararaba area of Karu Local Government adding that the ministry is hosting its web site in line with global trend.
Kana, however, urged for the speedy settlement of the allowances of lawyers as it would further boost their morale to serve the state better.
