The Controller of the Akwa Ibom State Correctional Service, Mr Julius Ezugwu, has disclosed that 2,400 out of 2,851 inmates in the correctional centres across the state are awaiting trial.
Ezugwu made the disclosure on Thursday in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State capital, during a workshop on “Assessment of the Implementation of the Akwa Ibom State Administration of Criminal Justice Law”
organized by the Law Hub Development and Advocacy Centre with support from the MacArthur Foundation, The Nigeria Lawyer reports.
He lamented that such a large number of inmates awaiting trial was responsible for overcrowded correctional centres in the state and stressed the need to address the challenge of overcrowding of the facilities.
“We have a total of 2,851 inmates in the correctional facilities of the command, that is Uyo, Ikot Ekpene, Eket and Ikot Abasi. Out of that number, we have about 451 convicts, the rest are awaiting trial. They are products of the criminal justice administration,” Ezugwu said.
“Every quarter, we ensure that we send our returns of awaiting trial persons to the office of the Attorney General of the State and the Chief Judge of Akwa Ibom State. I enjoin you (participants) to look deep and help us with a solution to overcrowding because when we have more than 80 per cent of inmates awaiting trial, it becomes a problem,” he said.
Ezugwu emphasised that the correctional service was for the reform of convicts and not awaiting trial persons, adding that a situation where there was a predominance of awaiting trial persons would be a challenge to all the institutions in the criminal justice system.
Speaking earlier before declaring the workshop open, the Akwa Ibom State Chief Judge, Hon. Justice Ekaette Obot, said she had issued a practice direction for the relevant usage and operations of the State Administration of Criminal Justice Law (ACJL) by all stakeholders in the system.
Obot, who was represented by Hon. Justice Edem Akpan, also noted that the inability to enforce some sections of the law made it impossible to enjoy the benefits, expressing the optimism that participants at the workshop would diligently assess how far Akwa Ibom State had fared in the implementation of that law.
“In acknowledgement of the fact of the inoperative sections of the Criminal Justice Law, I have put every arrangement in place to inaugurate the Administration of Criminal Justice Monitoring Committee on the 17th October 2023, so as to carry out the statutory role as specified in the law,” Obot said.
“Also I believe that this workshop would proffer solutions for effective implementation of overriding benefits of all sectors, and all the stakeholders,” she said.
Making a presentation on “The successes and challenges of the implementation of the Akwa Ibom State Administration of Criminal Justice Law: The role of the Judiciary”, Justice Gabriel Ette of the State Criminal Court identified the welfare and well-being of operators of the system as one of the factors that would promote efficient management of criminal justice.
“This is of paramount importance because when the workforce is made to feel undervalued, productivity nosedives,” Justice Ette said.
“In Akwa Ibom State the Judiciary still go cap in hand to the executive arm of government for funds to execute its programmes. This is a major debilitating factor that works against the effective implementation of this law,” he said.
