Twenty nine lawyers from the Nasarawa state Ministry of Justice are currently prosecuting 707 criminal cases across the state High Courts.
The cases which include murder, armed robbery, rape and are at various stages of trial were recorded as at October 2018.
The trials which spread across the state High Courts show that High Court (2), presided by Justice Aisha Mohammed has the highest number of criminal cases with 238 cases including that of rape.
High Court (1) Lafia, presided over by the state Chief Judge, Justice Umaru Dikko has (47) cases while High Court (1) Keffi records the lowest with 12 cases.
High Court (4) Lafia has 45 criminal trials, and High Court (5) Lafia has 68 cases. High Court (2) Keffi has 70, Akwanga High Court 97, and Nasarawa 37.
Also Mararaba High Court (1), (2) and (3) has 25, 27 and 16 criminal
cases respectively. High Court, Karu has 27 cases.
The state Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Barrister
Abdulkarim Kana confirmed that the state presently has 29 lawyers and that the process of recruiting 20 additional lawyers has reached advanced stage.
Barrister Kana said Governor Umaru Tanko Al-makura has granted approval for the recruitment of 20 additional lawyers in the ministry and that many more interventions has been carried out to ensure speedy dispensation of justice in the state.
“The recruitment of 20 additional lawyers is in the process and over 300, lawyers applied for the 20 vacant positions approved,” he said.
Barrister kana said some of the interventions include the construction of new High Court headquarters in Lafia, with 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 complexes in Mararaba area of Karu local government and the ministry is hosting a web site to upload all its activities.
