Enugu moves to decongest prisons

A FRESH move to decongest Nigerian prisons may have begun, as authorities of the Enugu State Prisons have furnished the state government with details of their inmates.Details of the information sent to the government were the status of the inmates, especially those who never had any date in court since their arraignment as well as those granted bail but were still in prisons. The Guardian learnt that the development arose from public outcry over the delay in the justice delivery system as well as the level of congestion of prisons in the state. As at last check, a total of 1,452 inmates were held for various offences. A breakdown of the figure showed condemned convicts of 61 males, one female; 18 on life jail, all male; 96 asylum inmates with 92 males and four females, while 1,177 and 40 males and females in that order are awaiting trial. There are additional three lodgers. The Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Anthony Ani, who confirmed the development, said the prison authorities at the request of state government had furnished his office with details of inmates in Enugu Prisons. He said the information would provide a guide for the government in the effort to speed up the justice system and decongest the prisons, stressing that he was touched the day he visited the prisons to learn that there were inmates who had stayed for years without a date in court. 'We want to know the status of their matter and that is why we are doing everything possible to ensure that we get their case files. The authorities of the prisons have been magnanimous enough to get us details of the inmates and we are working to ensure that those who have not had dates since their first arraignment are taken to court; we will look at some of the cases and see those who can grant bail as well as those granted bail but are still left in the prisons. This will be done in a matter of day,' he said. Ani, who however disagreed with alleged of delay in the justice system of the state, said the state government had instituted the Citizens Rights and Mediation Centre under the Ministry of Justice, stressing that the agency handles criminal and civil cases with relative ease. He added that members of the agency including lawyers move round police divisions weekly to ascertain pending cases and explore avenues of delivery justice to them, stressing that the establishment of the body had quickened justice administration.
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