Justice is a tripartite process which cannot stand except the three sides are considered before a verdict. The proof of this tripartite nature was given direct interpretation last week when the Chief Judge of Oyo State visited prisons in Oyo state to set free inmates that deserved pardon. YEJIDE GBENGA-OGUNDARE reports that despite the willingness to decongest the prisons, the Chief Judge and his panel did not set free the people that they considered should be prosecuted. And out of the over 1500 inmates, only 295 qualified for assessment while just 124 enjoyed the prerogative of mercy.
“My Lord, have mercy on me. I have no defence. I only plead for mercy. I committed the sin not for material gains but because I needed to access books at the Faculty of law library. Please, forgive me I have learnt my lesson.”
This was the plea of a middle aged man, Kunle (surname withheld), who is facing a criminal charge for presenting himself as a lawyer with forged documents to gain access to the library of the Faculty of Law, University of Ibadan before a panel led by Justice Munta Abimbola, the Chief Judge of Oyo state at the Agodi prisons last week.
He is not alone in the plea for mercy. Another man identified as Moruf also confessed to stealing a goat and begged for mercy while Hammed, who had been in detention for five months for stealing yam from a farm also confessed, claiming hunger as the reason for his action.
“My Lords, I cannot lie. I had issues at my work place and had no money to eat. I usually work on people’s farms to survive. But that day, I had nothing so I begged my neigbour for help but he didn’t answer me. I was very hungry and feeling faint so I went to his farm to steal yam and I was caught. I know it is wrong and my stay here has taught me the importance of freedom and doing the right thing. Please have mercy on me. I won’t do this again,” Hammed pleaded.
The three men were lucky to receive pardon, especially after the prosecutor confirmed that what the duo of Moruf and Hammed stole were recovered and had been returned to the owner. They were told to go and sin no more.
They were not the only lucky ones during the exercise at the Agodi Prisons. Many also got the prerogative of mercy while many had their hopes of freedom dashed when the Chief Judge ruled that they should go and face their trial while many were granted bail with the injunction that if they jumped bail and failed to appear for their case, they would be re-arrested.
The story of three siblings was, however, more pathetic, the three were arraigned by the police for vandalizing a property but during the sitting, it was discovered that they were being unduly punished because after losing their parents, they refused to vacate their father’s house and look for accommodation elsewhere as instructed by their extended family members. The Chief Judge released them unconditionally while he told the Nigerian Bar Association to take up the issue and ensure they got their father’s property back.
The Agodi Prison though in a commercial centre with high level of commercial and pedestrian activities exists in a world of its own. Right from the main road at Agodi-Gate, anyone passing will easily see the brown fortress with a big green metal door and a security post not far off with armed personnel of the prison service standing guard.
But behind this green door is a community which lives by its own rules and is not governed by the pace of the world outside; it is a world where no one decides what he wants, how he wants it or when he wants, but learn to live based on regulations of the authorities. The residents are also an assortment of people; the innocent, accidental criminals and hardened criminals from different tribes, social status and religious affiliations who are forced to cohabit because of a common factor, they had been accused of committing a crime and is facing trial before either a magistrate or high court in Oyo State.
This is the home of many who had become hopeless or have their fate lying in the hands of lawyers, prosecutors, magistrates and judges. And the people living here temporarily or permanently based on their convictions or current position of trial have to live together in cramped quarters at the risk of getting infections from neigbours that they cannot avoid,
When the Chief Judge of Oyo State, Justice Munta Ladipo Abimbola, announced his decision to visit prisons in the state in a bid to decongest the prison and have an onsite inspection of how the inmates were faring and also find out the situation of their ongoing cases before the courts, many were of the opinion that it was an exercise that would have no real impact on the population, based on the belief that it was just a commemorative exercise.
But to some, especially the inmates and their families including the prison authority, it was a beacon of hope as it would be the end of incarceration and the burden of congestion would be lightened. To this set of people, it was a period to prepare their lies, truths and half truths in order to gain empathy and be freed.
The programme was a two-day event that took place at the Agodi Maximum Security Prison in Ibadan and the Abolongo Medium Security Prisons in Oyo between December 21 and 22. At Agodi Prisons, the session was presided over by Justice Abimbola assisted by Justice Olajumoke Aiki and it lasted about eight hours at the chapel of the prisons. The event which had in attendance judges, guarantors, lawyers, prosecutors, the Director of Public Prosecution in the Ministry of Justice, the Nigerian Bar Association, non-governmental bodies, the Justice Development and Peace Commission (JDPC), the police and prison officials dispelled the impression that Justice Abimbola had come for a fanfare to score cheap points.
The inmates peeped from their cells while those outside in the compound looked on in awe as the visitors trooped into the facility. To them, it was a strange sight to see the large number of people converging within the prison walls at a time and to those seated around the chapel, the atmosphere was very tense, looking on as the visitors trooped in and were seen muttering prayers, calling on God to intervene and let them receive mercy. All eyes were on Justice Abimbola and other judges around him as the ones that had the key to their fate.
The event commenced with the Chief Judge trying his best to break the ice and put the inmates at ease while the programme moved on, the gravity of the exercise was palpable. He explained that the exercise is part of his statutory duty which was billed to come up frequently but was hindered by other responsibilities.
“The exercise is statutory and is expected to be very frequent but as a result of other official duties and demand of the office, it is coming up now. This provisional visit is in exercise of a statutory provision to get trial inmates speedy trials and get the prison decongested.
“It is important and essential for us to visit the prisons, not necessarily to decongest the prison, but to ensure that inmates are given speedy trials. Exercise of prison visit and release of inmates is not whimsical but is subject to laid down criteria. The exercise of prison visit and power to release is not a power capriciously exercised but they are intended on three grounds of:
“Any inmate that is found to have stayed unduly longer than he would stay if convicted of charged offence, anyone whose circumstances of arrest is unwarranted or are afflicted by ailments that the prison service cannot afford to manage will be those that will be considered,” Justice Abimbola stated.
In his welcome remarks, the Comptroller of Prison, Oyo state command, Kasali O. Yussuf appreciated the Chief Judge for finding out time to visit the Agodi Prison saying the prison had been waiting all along for the visit as they had been having challenges with the facilities as a result of overstretching of the prison facilities. He noted that majority of those awaiting trials are those on capital charges and a number of them had communicable diseases, adding that two inmates had been identified to be suffering from drug resistant tuberculosis.
He explained further that he had reported the matter at the state Security Council meeting for consideration and assistance, adding that the State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice had promised to look into the matter and perfect the conditions of their release. And while commending the Chief Judge, he noted that the visit and subsequent release of some inmates would give hope of becoming better persons to other inmates after their terms.
The Agodi Prison, that Thursday, opened with 1084 inmates, 964 of which were awaiting inmates, comprising of 956 make and eight females out of which the prison authorities presented 960 for the process of getting freedom. The figure was much higher than what the facility can cater for and as a result contagious disease is on the rise.
That there is congestion in Nigerian prisons has been confirmed by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) which in February 2017 stated that 72 per cent of inmates in Nigerian prisons were awaiting trial inmates and were the reason why the prisons were congested and this congestion is said to have direct impact on the health and wellbeing of inmates, who are entitled to the dignity of the human persons in spite of any legitimate or legal restriction to their freedom.
But this is not the case, diseases seems to be a permanent resident in Nigerian prisons and many get infected with various forms of contagious diseases due to overcrowding and inadequate facilities in the face of a population that grows daily due to incessant remand of defendants from magistrate courts.
At the end of the exercise in Ibadan, out of the 189 that were assessed, 84 gained their freedom; 67 were released after they were discovered to have stayed longer than expected in custody as well as on compassionate grounds while 10 were released on health grounds following recommendations resulting from a collaborative effort between the state chapters of the Nigerian Medical Association and the Nigerian Bar Association; while seven inmates were released on the ground that they had no case to answer based on the recommendations of the Directorate of Public Prosecution (DPP).
All freed inmates were male and those released on health grounds according to the medical personnel of the prison, Dr Adeola Babatunde, suffered from ailments ranging from chronic renal disease, multi-drug resistant tuberculosis which affected three inmates, two suspected renal disease patients, one incarcerated scrotal hernia, one HIV/AIDS patient, one asthma and TB patient, one TB and lobar pneumonia patient while more than four had normal tuberculosis.
And in continuation of the exercise, the Chief Judge on December 22, was at the Medium Security Prison, Abolongo in Oyo town where 106 inmates were assessed and 40 were released.
Justice Abimbola stated that the exercise was not meant to release hardened criminals into the society but to give people with petty crimes who were deemed to have learned their lessons a second chance of being upright citizens who would be useful to the society and their families.
“Any inmate that is found to have stayed unduly longer than he would stay if convicted of charged offence, anyone whose circumstances of arrest is unwarranted or are afflicted by ailments that the prison service cannot afford to manage are those considered,” Justice Abimbola stated.
He explained further that out of the 353 awaiting trial, most were capital offences and consequently usually controversial, emphasizing that as a result of this, the list had been separated to identify those standing trial for bailable offences before the magistrate courts because of the tripartite nature of the law which stipulates justice to the victim, the accused and the society.
He explained that the list had been pruned to 106 and all the people on the list would be assessed to determine if they deserved the prerogative of mercy, adding that the list of 158 people standing trial for capital offences before the magistrate courts would not be treated and those before the high courts would also not be treated but will be given accelerated hearing.
Earlier in his welcome speech in Oyo, the Comptroller of Prisons, Oyo State Command, Kasali Yussuf, thanked the Chief Judge for taking long hours for the exercise in Ibadan, adding that the prison authorities were appreciative if the sacrifices made by the team led by the Chief Judge.
He further explained that the Abolongo Prison supervised by DCP Charles Esan, as at Friday morning opened with 429 inmates, consisting of 353 awaiting trial inmates and 73 convicted.
Most of the inmates freed were given their freedom on compassionate grounds of mercy, having shown remorse or having spent time behind bars that is deemed to be enough punishment for offences committed, while many were found to be suffering unjustly for having issues that were more civil than criminal with people who were superior to them in social status.
Many of the inmates assessed were herdsmen facing charges of malicious damage of farmland, while a great number were charged for breaking, entering and stealing from homes and shops in communities across Oke Ogun zone of the state.
A young man, Tope, was lucky to gain freedom when it was discovered that he was carrying out the instructions of the farm manager where he went for internship and he was arraigned for theft because he was unable to raise N180, 000 demanded as settlement at the police station, while another man (name withheld) who was in prison because the brother –in-law who he stood surety for jumped bail was also released and told to look for the man to face his trial.
Those denied freedom included those that confessed to possession of human skull, those with record of previous convictions, serial robbers and unrepentant herdsmen that show no inclination to restitute from damage perpetrated while those whose cases were not assessed are those charged with kidnappings, armed robbery, rape and other capital offenses.
Many that were released for stealing food from farmlands confessed to doing so out of hunger and after the prosecutors had confirmed that the stolen item had been recovered and given back to the owner and that the defendant had stayed behind bars for a while, they were released and urged to desist from crime as it is not the solution.
Some that would have been released got thrown back after they were identified to have been convicted by some magistrates or for having other criminal cases before other courts. And as they had been urged to go and sin no more, the Chief Judge expressed the hope that they would not go back to their previous ways as repeat offenders will never be given the prerogative of mercy.