The Prisons Rehabilitation And Welfare Action (PRAWA) has urged Akwa Ibom state government to domesticate the administration of criminal justice act of 2015 excluding the errors there in.
It stated that such a move would ensure that the justice system works for everyone as the 2015 act had made provisions for non custodial measures in administration of justice.
The executive director of the group, Dr Uju Agomoh, made the call Wednesday during a consultative workshop and training for non custodial officers held at the federal secretariat, Uyo, Akwa Ibom state capital.
Dr. Agomoh noted that the act enacted in 2015 has been domesticated in Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja and in other states in the country, urging Akwa Ibom state government to follow suit in order to boost other platforms that would enhance the administration of justice in the State.
She also called for effective implementation of the NCS act of 2019 to ensure that persons who are required not to be sentenced are not sentenced.
She said sentencing people who committed minor offences is no longer tenable as it could be counterproductive, adding that such persons could be asked to do community service or be asked to pay fine as the case might be.
She said: “Our message is clear, we are asking for the effective implementation of non custodial measures in Akwa Ibom state, that is, the Nigerian Correctional Act of 2019 that means utilising custody to only those required to be there in the custodial centre.
“Having people who need to spend their sentences in their communities, to do so because by doing so they are giving back to the society and the custodial facilities will not be overstretched. Also, the correctional officers will not be overwhelmed by too many inmates.
PRAWA is also asking for the domestication of administration of criminal justice act of 2015 by having the administration of criminal justice of Akwa Ibom which should also include the provisions for the non custodial measures and every other platform that will enhance the administration of criminal justice of 2015.”
