Slow pace of justice system affects inmates in Kaduna prison

Usman Abubakar, a 24-year-old resident of Badarawa in Kaduna State, who was arrested and charged to court for drug abuse, said he spent close to three months at the Kaduna Central Prison without knowing his fate.He told Sunday Trust that anytime his case came up in court, the judge would either be absent or adjourn […]

Usman Abubakar, a 24-year-old resident of Badarawa in Kaduna State, who was arrested and charged to court for drug abuse, said he spent close to three months at the Kaduna Central Prison without knowing his fate.
He told Sunday Trust that anytime his case came up in court, the judge would either be absent or adjourn the case. He said the slow pace of the justice system is responsible for the hardship awaiting trial inmates face.
“I was brought to the Kaduna Central Prison as a result of drug abuse. I was an awaiting trial inmate for a period of two months and two weeks in 2008. It was not a good experience. While I was there I understood what life is behind bars and what it means to be a free man. There is nothing worse than knowing you will spend the rest of your life behind bars.
“While I was there I also realised that being a drug addict is not worth throwing your life away because it does not help you improve your life; rather, it destroys one’s life and makes that person useless to himself, his family and the society in general. We should talk to ourselves and others engaged in such acts to stop the act before it becomes a problem to them.
“Awaiting trial inmates really don’t have anything to do with the warders because the convicts are tagged government property while the awaiting trial inmates are still the property of their families until they are convicted. While I was in prison I observed that awaiting trial inmates suffer more than the convicts. As an awaiting trial inmate you are not provided with a bed space, unlike the convicts. And the awaiting trial inmates are much more than the convicts.
“Most times, as an awaiting trial inmate, you do not get to take your bath every day. Even feeding is not on a daily basis because it is your family that are responsible for your feeding and upkeep until you become a convict and are termed ‘government pikin.’
“It will interest you to know that most times, the convicts are not up to one third of the awaiting trial inmates. This is because on a daily basis, awaiting trial inmates are brought into the prison. Unfortunately, due to the slow pace of the Nigerian justice system, the awaiting trial inmates spend more time than necessary, just to be heard in court and granted bail,” he lamented.
He added: “Today, with prayers to God and the help of my parents and family members, I hope I am a changed man. I am presently learning the barbing profession and I pray never to engage myself in drugs and go back to the prison. It was not a good experience, and I do not pray for anyone to be locked up behind bars like an animal.”
Abdulsalam Abubakar, a 30-year-old former inmate of the Kaduna Central Prison, who hails from Zaria in Kaduna State, said after his stay in prison he realised that life is too short to waste on drugs. He is presently learning the welding profession in Rigasa area of Kaduna metropolis.
Narrating his experience in prison to Sunday Trust, Abubakar said, “I was an awaiting trial inmate at the Kaduna Central Prison in 2004 over drug abuse. When I was in prison, some of the inmates had ways of getting drugs and cigarettes which they still used to get high. I do not know how they got the drugs, but a lot of them had their ways of getting the stuff, even though they were locked behind bars.”
He also affirmed that convicts are taken better care of than the awaiting trial inmates. “This is because they are the actual inhabitants of the prison and the property of government, unlike the awaiting trial inmates who could leave the prison any moment.
“The awaiting trial inmates used to wish they were convicted so they could get bed spaces, enough feeding and all the luxuries that come with being a prisoner. Some of them have been waiting for over a year without being convicted or bailed out. Their cases keep dragging in court and their family members are tired of following their cases, thereby abandoning them to their fate,” Abubakar said.
He called on the government to look into the plight of the awaiting trial inmates, saying, “A lot of them are innocent of the crimes being labelled against them.
“When people are abandoned in a place for a long time for a crime they know nothing about, it causes them to lose their faith in the society. They become worse than they were when they leave the prison because they feel they have been cheated. It is very necessary for the government to look into this matter and, as a matter of urgency, try inmates as soon as possible so that they can leave the place and contribute their own quota to the society rather than waste their time in prison.
“To the youth who are thinking of engaging themselves in drug abuse, I am advising you not to do so because it is not a good thing to do. It can destroy your life to the point of no repair. Only very few people like us get the opportunity to regain our lives after we have been drug addicts. It does not only destroy your body physically and mentally, it also determines how the society would address you.  I have learnt a lot in life and I am determined to make the best out of it,” he said.
Nathaniel Smith, another 22-year-old former prison inmate is presently learning carpentry so as to be gainfully employed and contribute his quota to the society.
“l was an inmate of the Kaduna Central Prison in 2009 for being in possession of cannabis and Indian hemp. I was in prison for four months because anytime I went to court, the judge adjourned the case. However, I was finally bailed out with the sum of N50, 000.
“While I was in prison, I interacted with convicts, including armed robbers, drug dealers and the rest of them. When I asked about the challenges they faced in the prison, some of them told me that they hardly got good food to eat, except if their parents brought them.
“I think I have turned a new leaf. I now see life differently. I am also more comfortable around people than when I was abusing drugs. Back then, people did not like being around me, but today, gradually, I am recuperating and integrating into the society,” he said.