A federal government panel has described as appealing and unbearable the condition of correctional centres and inmates across the country.
The visitation panel set up by the federal government on prisons in the country gave the verdict while submitting its report in the panel’s report on Wednesday in Abuja to the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Prince Lateef Fagbemi (SAN).
The panel, headed by a former Attorney General and Commissioner of Justice in Ekiti State, Olawale Fapohunda (SAN) also discovered that most inmates are languishing in prisons due to lack of legal representation and the inability of the Legal Aid Council (LAC) to cope with the huge number of cases.
Fapohunda noted that in the course of the panel’s assignment of auditing prisons, members interfaced with categories of inmates and found their conditions unpalatable.
He said besides the challenge of lack of legal representation, most of the inmates are suffering ailments that the prison authorities could not bear the cost of medication.
Fapohunda appealed to the AGF and the Fed Govt to come to the rescue of the Nigerian prisons and their inmates with a view to alleviating their poor conditions.
He urged the AGF to convene an emergency meeting of the Body of Attorneys-General to debate the issue of the deplorable conditions of prisons and inmates and come up with concrete remedies that will make life bearable for the inmates.
“It would have been odd in the extreme if the working group had simply focused on the status of Section 35 inmates and ignored the plight of other inmates deserving urgent attention.
“This category of inmates includes those without legal representation. Indeed, several inmates continue to be kept in detention for periods longer than the maximum period of imprisonment prescribed for the offence because they do not have legal representation.
“The working group found that an alarming high number of inmates in the custodial centres under review were without legal representation. The AGF is invited to note that although the legal aid council of Nigeria is mandated to provide free legal services to inmates without legal representation, it is presently under-resourced and thus barely able to make a significant difference,” Fapohunda said.
Responding, the AGF said the panel was constituted as part of efforts to ensure access to justice and ensure that persons are not unduly detained In our custodial centres.
Fagbemi added: “The vision of Mr. President is for a criminal justice system that maintains law and order, deters crime, punish Offenders, while at the same time strives to rehabilitate those offenders in order to facilitate their recovery and reintegration to society.”
