The National Human Right Commission (NHRC) has called on the federal government to include community service in Nigeria’s criminal justice system.
Speaking on Thursday at the Kuje Medium Prison, Abuja, the Executive Secretary of the NHRC, Mr. Tony Ojukwu, said such a step would drastically de-congest the nation’s over-crowded prisons.
He spoke through his Special Assistant, Mr. Benedict Agu, shortly after the NHRC team visited the prison facility as part of this year’s commemoration of the African Pre-Trial Detention Day.
The commission’s boss noted that the “decriminalization of petty offences in Africa is aimed at declassifying petty offences in our criminal justice administration.”
Ojukwu listed the offences to be classified as petty to include: “being a rogue and vagabond, being idle or disorderly, loitering, begging, failure to pay debt and being a nuisance among others.”
He further pointed out that the theme of this year’s commemoration of the event, “Decriminalization of Petty Offences in Africa,” was apt, owing to the appalling conditions of prisons in “Africa and Nigeria in particular.”
“As a stakehold in the criminal justice administration, the commission shall continue to highlight and push for reforms and best practices in our criminal justice system”, Ojukwu pledged, urging the federal government to key into the principles of decriminalization of petty offences in Nigeria.
In his response, Mr. Innocent Onoja, Officer-in-Charge of the Kuje Medium Prison, urged the NHRC not to renege on its pledge to intervene cases of inmates with minor challenges like payment of fines.
Meanwhile, a look at the Kuje Prison inmates’ lock on Thursday, showed that the 560 capacity facility currently holds 785, with 625 inmates awaiting trial.
