Reformation of the Nigerian judicial system is no doubt one of the priorities of President Muhammadu Buhari government. Although so much had arguably been achieved through implementation of Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) 2015 to tackle delay in criminal justice system, the government is still of the view that things could get better if the Act is properly utilised. This is why the government created a forum last week in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State for legal minds, stakeholders and expert in the judicial firmament to discuss how to get maximum benefits of the Act. KEHINDE OSASONA was there.
Background
As the guardian of international standards and norms in crime prevention and criminal justice, UNODC is mandated to support Member States in putting into practice acceptable standards and norms by assisting States in building fair and effective criminal justice systems.
NBA’s position: A reminiscence
Speaking at a forum during his reign as President, Nigeria Bar Association, Abubakar Mahmoud, SAN was quoted as having said that the association recognized that an effective criminal justice system was central to the maintenance of the rule of law and socio-economic development.
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He said, “As we all know, the institutions of criminal justice have functioned at sub-optimal levels. Delays have become prevalent. Our prisons have become congested. Generally, the system has become ineffective in responding to rising criminality and the rapidly evolving nature of new forms of criminal activities.
“To avert further loss of confidence of the ordinary people in the criminal justice institutions, reforms became both urgent and imperative. To stave-off further decline and loss of confidence, there was an urgent need to develop strategic responses to these challenges,”
He continued, “We needed to correct the dysfunctional institutional matrix of criminal justice administration and reform its substantive and procedural laws.
ACJA to the rescue
Meanwhile, in curtailing many of these anomalies in the domestication and implementation of ACJA, the Federal Ministry of Justice and the Federal Justice Sector Reform Coordinating Committee (FJSRCC) recently organized a national workshop aimed at implementing specifically sections 29, 33 and 34 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act 2015 as a way of providing solutions to things that haveconstituted themselves as hinderance in the wheel of justice in the country.
While addressing participants from the six states of South-South geopolitical region at the opening of the 3-day workshop, the Solicitor General of the Federation and Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Justice, Dayo Apata, said the modalities and framework adopted would aid proper implementation of Sections 29, 33 and 34 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act 2015 in the country.
He said, “The implementation of these provisions no doubt, is aimed at addressing the human rights abuses and maltreatment of suspects at police stations and detention facilities of other security agencies in violation of the fundamental rights of suspects as enshrined in the 1999 Constitution as amended and other International human rights protocols.
“The violation of these rights by security agencies has gross negative effect on public perception and confidence in the security agencies and indeed, the Criminal Justice System” the Permanent Secretary posited.
According to Apata, the workshop attested to the determination of the Justice Ministry through the Federal Justice Sector Reform Coordinating Committee to continue to lead the efforts towards reforming criminal Justice administration and promotion of the rule of law.
He said, “Section 29(1) of the Act provides a mechanism for interface between the Inspector General of Police and the Attorney General of the Federation as well as the Commissioner of Police and the Attorney General of the State.
“The Section requires the Inspector General of Police to remit quarterly to the Attorney General of the Federation a record of all arrest made with or without warrant in relation to federal offences within Nigeria while Section 29(2) requires the Commissioner of Police of a State or head of agency authorized to make arrest to remit quarterly to the Attorney General of the State records of arrest with respect to state offences.
He continued, “Section 33 of the Act requires an Officer in charge of a police station or an officer in charge of an agency authorized to make arrest to on the last working day of every month report to the Magistrate, the cases of all suspects arrested without warrant within the limits of their respective stations or agency whether the suspects have been admitted to bail or not.
“Section 34 of the Act, requires a Chief Magistrate or a Magistrate designated by the Chief Judge of the State to conduct an inspection of police stations or other places of detention within his territorial jurisdiction other than the prison.
“The above provision also requires the Chief Magistrate to submit the report from the officer in charge of a police station to the Criminal Justice Monitoring Committee who is expected to analyze the reports and advise the Attorney General accordingly” Apata stated.
Breakout sessions
A Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) Professor Muhammad Tabiu who spoke during the session noted that in the course of ensuring the workability of ACJA, there were lots of demonstration around it.
He added that efforts are in top gears to ensure that stakeholders and institutions saddled with the implementation of ACJA work in harmony with one another.
Tabiu therefore suggested that if the country wanted an effective implementation of ACJA, all hands must therefore be on deck, saying the magistrates, police, security agencies and other stakeholders must come together.
He said, “The Senate President, the Speaker and other speakers of the houses of assemblies and heads of the judiciary must all strive to enhance full implementation of ACJA in the country,”
Legal experts speak
Also speaking at the workshop, the Chief Judge of Akwa-Ibom State, Godwin Abraham said since the advent of ACJA, the judiciary has been working very hard to see that not many people goto prisons as inmates.
Regrettably, he added; “Despite efforts being made in that respect, it seems result so far has not been encouraging.
Justice Abraham said:, “In an efforts to decongest the prisons, we have gone round prison establishments in the State. Not only that, our magistrates and police are working hand-in hands via visitations and there are special courts established to curb some of these things.
Another stakeholder and Chief Magistrate of Isiokpo, Rosemary Ibinabo told this medium that immediately the ACJA Act was enacted in 2015, the River State government swung into action and it was passed by the state assembly for it to become law.
Apart from that, after the State governor encouraged us to start using and I make bold to say that we are ahead of other States. Again, we have had various in – house seminars and workshop with committees and external collaborators with an ICT platform in form of data base to go with it while working closely with the police.
On the police cooperative attitude in the course of implementing ACJA, she said, “For instance, the Divisional Police Officer in my station has been quite helpful and never kept suspected criminals more than 24 hours before charging them to court.
Going forward
For Governor Emmanuel Udom of Akwa Ibom state, who gave an opening address at the workshop, the program according to him was apt and could not have come at a better time.
He therefore applauded efforts by the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation towards the implementation of some sections of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) 2015, which basically seek to safeguard the rights of persons in police cells and other detention facilities.
According to Udom, no country thrives when its laws are flagrantly disobeyed or where some people think they are untouchable and above the law.
He said, “Democracy can never survive anywhere in the world outside the rule of law. The pillar of democracy is rule of law” Adding: “The problem facing Nigeria is lack of execution cum implementation of policies and laws.
Nevertheless, the big question has been: Can ACJA be fast-tracked in such a way that stepping it down could be done within the spate of time for quick justice delivery in the nation?
Or as some of the participants drawn from the judicial and security institutions suggested, should there be a periodic forum which would serve as catalyst towards quick implementation of ACJA across the country?
Expectedly, events of the next few years would determine that.
JUDICIARY NEWS
ACJA implementation in South-South Region timely, says Udom
Governor of Akwa Ibom state, Emmanuel Udom, has applauded the Federal Government over its on-going efforts to ensure implementation of some sections of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) 2015 with a view to improving the nation’s justice system.
Udomspoke in Uyo while addressing participants at a 3-day national workshop on the implementation of sections 29, 33 and 34 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, in the state capital.
According to him, no country thrives when its laws are flagrantly disobeyed or where some people think they are untouchable and above the law.
He said, “Democracy can never survive anywhere in the world outside the rule of law.
“The pillar of democracy is rule of law, advising that stakeholders in the judicial institutions and other concerned should strive to execute essential policies and laws.
He thereafter commended the organizers of the program for their effort towards ensuring that states within the South-South geo-political region domesticate and implement the sections under review.
“On this note, I commend the Ministry of Justice, office of the Attorney General of the Federation and the Federal Justice Sector Reform Coordinating Committee (FJSRCC) for organizing this workshop.
“Implementation of these sections of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act will go a long way in safeguarding the rights of persons under arrest and in detention facilities from being trampled upon,” he added
Court jails 3 ‘Yahoo boys’ in Kano
A Kano Magistrate Court on Friday, sentenced three fraudsters to 18 months in prison over an attempt to defraud unsuspecting bank customers.
The convicted persons are: Yusuf Hassan, Bilal Musa Ibrahim and Salisu Ibrahim.
According to the First Information Report (FIR) filed before the court, the suspects attempted to infiltrate the Nigeria Communication Commission (NCC) network facilities with the intent to illicitly swap GSM SIM cards with the motive to retrieve information that would aid them defraud the accounts of bank customers.
The acts of criminal conspiracy, infringed the provisions of section 97, 334 and 95 of the Penal Code laws.
During the proceedings, the prosecution led by Barrister Rabiu I. Mohammed, OC Legal of the NSCDC informed the court that the management of NCC alerted NSCDC Kano State command of suspected attempts by unscrupulous elements to infiltrate its communication gadgets.
The perpetrators, it was learnt, attempted to illegally swap some SIM cards with the motive to retrieve private banking details that were stored inside the SIM cards, the court heard.
Barrister Mohammed further informed the court that NSCDC on receiving the complaint from NCC swung into action which culminated into their arrest, explaining that they were apprehended at Farm Centre Quarters located within Kano metropolis, while four other suspects residing in Lagos were still at large.
The trio arraigned before the court confessed to the crime and pleaded for leniency, stating that they had nothing to say on why they should not be punished by the court.
In her ruling however, the presiding magistrate, HaulatuMagaji held that the suspected “Yahoo Boys” were guilty as charged.
She therefore ordered the trio to proceed on six months jail term on each of the counts with an option of payment of N10,000 fine on each of the counts as charged.
Boy, 20 remanded in prison for impregnating 16-year old girl
A 20-year old student, Babangida Husseini, who allegedly impregnated a 16-year old, has been remanded in prison by a Minna Magistrates’ Court in Niger State.
The offence committed contravened the provisions of sections 18 (2) and 25 (3) of the Child Rights Law of Niger State.
The police had charged Husseini with two counts of unlawful sexual intercourse with a child and impregnating a student.
Magistrate Mariam Kings ordered that the case be adjourned till July 16 for the prosecution to call its witnesses, even though Husseini pleaded guilty to the charge.
Kings held that the adjournment is to enable the police present more evidence to establish its case considering the gravity of the offence.
The Prosecution Counsel, Insp Aliyu Yakubu told the court that the father of the girl, Bilyaminu Musa, filed a petition on June 7.
Yakubu said the father alleged that the defendant had sex with his daughter, an SS2 student of Government Day Chanchaga Minna and impregnated her.
Court acquits ex-Perm Sec, jails five directors over N5.2 bn fraud
A Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court sitting in Gudu, Abuja, has convicted and sentenced five former directors of the Rural Electricity Agency (REA) to various jail terms for their culpability in the N5.2 billion scam.
The convicts who were jailed by Justice AdebukolaBanjoko include Engr. Samuel IbiGekpe, former Managing Director, REA; Simon KirdiNanle, an accountant in REA; Engr. Kayode Orekoya, Director of Projects; Abdusamad Garba Hahun, Assistant Director and Kayode Oyedeji, Head of Legal Department.
They were charged by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC with criminal breach of trust by fraudulently awarding contract for Grid Extension and Solar Electricity from the amended 2008 Budget of REA.
The second defendant, Dr. Abdullahi Aliyu, a former Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Power was however discharged and acquitted by the court.
They were alleged to have fraudulently facilitated the withdrawal of the sum of N119.7 million from the account of the agency, domiciled in Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
During the trial, the prosecution led by Kemi Pinheiro, SAN, called seven witnesses before closing its case.
Rather than open its defence, the defendants through Paul Erokoro, SAN, made a no case submission which was overruled by the court and thereafter were called upon to open their defences.
Dr. Abdullahi Aliyu’s “no-case” submission was, however, upheld on appeal and he was consequently discharged and acquitted.
The first and third defendants rested their cases on that of the prosecution.
The fourth to sixth defendants testified in person.
Final addresses were filed, exchanged and adopted.
Upon adoption of the respective final addresses by the prosecution and the defence, the court adjourned for judgment.
But in a significant judgment, the court dismissed the application of Gekpe, the first defendant, which challenged the jurisdiction of the court to entertain the charge.
On the substantive charge, the court found that the prosecution had established by evidence all ingredients of the offences against the defendants.
Consequently, the defendants were convicted and sentenced as follows: First defendant sentenced three years imprisonment with an option of N5 million fine; the third to sixth defendants were sentenced to three years imprisonment with an option of N500,000 fine each.
