The controller of prisons in Lagos State,Abayomi Oguntuase, has applauded the decision by the State for Magistrate’s Courts to sit on Saturdays.
Oguntuase said the move would facilitate speedy dispensation of justice and enhance the decongestion of prisons.
It’s a welcome development and if possible, the courts should sit on Sundays to facilitate quick dispensation of justice as justice delayed is justice denied, he said.
The development followed the passage of the Lagos State Magistrate’s Courts Law Amended 2009, which provides for the sitting of the courts on Saturdays.
Oguntuase said prison facilities in the state were overstretched with a population of 4,700-- more than double what they were expected to hold—and that about 70 per cent of these inmates were awaiting trial.
According to Oguntuase, the 800-man capacity Ikoyi prison currently has 1,708 inmates out of which 1,593 are awaiting trial.
Out of the 256 inmates of Badagry Prison, 188 are awaiting trial, The female prison has 175 inmates, 139 are awaiting trial,he said.
Oguntuase, however, explained that sitting on Saturdays was not the only solution to prison congestion as attitudinal change on the part of law enforcement and judicial officers should complement.
According to him, the justice delivery system, which comprises the police, Ministry of Justice, judiciary and prison facilities, need to be totally overhauled.
Oguntuase explained that at the police level, investigations should be conducted speedily and thoroughly, while case files of the accused should be sent to the Ministry of Justice on time.
As long as the case files do not get to the office of the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) on time, there is no way they will come out, he said.
He also decried what he described as “incessant and frivolous adjournment’” of cases by judicial officers, saying the trend had to be adequately addressed.
Ogutuase explained that currently, transportation remained a major problem for the prison service in Lagos State as it was becoming increasingly difficult to move detainees to court sittings.
He said though some former “Black Maria” vans inherited from the Police Force and rechristened
Green Maria helped for a while, they had broken down due to old age.
He said the command could only boast of a coaster bus and a Hilux pickup van each in three of its four facilities in Ikoyi, Kirikiri and Badagry prisons, adding that the ideal would have been a tripling of the vehicles.
The prison chief said female prison which has a population of 175 in-mates has only one operational vehicle and often depended on the Medium Security Prison to convey accused women to court.
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