NGO marches against poor prison conditions

Members of a criminal justice reform organisation, Citizens United for the Rehabilitation of Errants (CURE) have, in a rally in Abuja, called for reforms on conditions of prisons across Nigeria. The protesters had placards with inscriptions such as: ‘Say no to prolonged pre-trial detention’, ‘Remove children from adult prisons now’, ‘Reform the prisons’, and ‘say […]

Members of a criminal justice reform organisation, Citizens United for the Rehabilitation of Errants (CURE) have, in a rally in Abuja, called for reforms on conditions of prisons across Nigeria.

The protesters had placards with inscriptions such as: ‘Say no to prolonged pre-trial detention’, ‘Remove children from adult prisons now’, ‘Reform the prisons’, and ‘say no to torture’.

Led by the Executive Director of CURE, Sylvester Uhaa and a retired Deputy Commissioner of Prisons and member, Chuks Afujue, the group marched from the Unity Fountain in Abuja to the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) and the Ministry of Justice as they pressed for greater attention to the plight of prison inmates and detainees in the country.

“We are here to speak to the commission on behalf of thousands of people, some undocumented, who are in prisons, police cells, military detention centres, NDLEA detention centres and other detention centres across the country,” Uhaa told officials of the NHRC.

“Our message to the National Human Rights Commission is simple: to do its job the way it is supposed to do to ensure that lunatics are no longer in our prisons, children are no longer detained with adults, and to remove juveniles from adult prisons.

“We are asking the Human Rights Commission to help us tell the Federal Government to stop building prisons but to build schools and create jobs. We are asking the Federal Government through the Human Rights Commission to abolish the death penalty now. To say no to arbitrary detention. To say no to long pre-trial detentions. To protect prisoners’ rights and dignity; they are human beings and they have rights.

“Last year Mr President said and I quote, ‘prison congestion is a national scandal and embarrassment.’ We want action. A month later, the Vice President Osinbajo said ‘our prisons turn human beings to animals.’ We want actions. We want the Federal Government to pay prison officials more, and to make the states pay for the upkeep of some prisoners in the prisons.

“It is only when you can make the states become responsible that they can take part in prison decongestion and criminal justice reforms,” he added.

About 70 percent of the 75,772 prison inmates in Nigeria are on awaiting trial, according to official records. 74,186 of the inmates are males while 1,586 are females.

Uhaa called on the authorities to stop sending pregnant women to prison, and to reform the borstal institutions. He also criticized the detention of minors and juveniles with adults.

At the Ministry of Justice, CURE’s message was same as that at the NHRC. It reminded the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister for Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN), that a Federal High Court in Benin, Edo State in 2014 had upheld the rights of inmates to vote in elections because of its tremendous rehabilitation and re-entry value.

The AGF, who was represented by the Solicitor-General of the Federation and the Permanent Secretary in the ministry, Dayo Apata, assured the NGO that the ministry has already embarked on reforms in the prison system based on a presidential directive.

“As you are aware, the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria has actually inaugurated a Presidential Committee on Prisons. And this is a committee which is chaired by the CJ of the FCT. I want to inform you that we have visited 28 prisons in Nigeria and 12 states. And you should also be informed that by Monday, we will be in Delta and Edo, which will make it 14 states,” he said.