HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES IN THE NIGERIAN PRISON SYSTEM: A CASE STUDY OF NIGER STATE PRISON
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The Prison system is one of the key components of Criminal Justice Administration as it the correctional institution where prisoners and convicts are kept after undergoing the processes of police investigation and trial by a court of law. The prison is responsible for the custody of the convicts and other inmates. The prison system entails putting in place measures to prevent escapes, such as erecting high walls or chain-link fence, placing armed guards, constant checks of cells, providing system of passes for movements with the prison, constant surveillance, and other measures to prevent escapes, riots, and so on1.
The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (1999) (as amended) vests in the Federal Government the control and administration of prisons2. This power is generally exercisable by statutory instrument of the National Assembly. However, the Prisons Act and subsidiary legislations vests in the President of Nigeria power over the control, administration, security and welfare of prisoners.
Section 15 (a) of the Prisons Act provides that the President may wave regulations with respect to the organization and administration of prison. However, the Nigerian Prisons Legislation and Practice are generally perceived to be „anti – prisoner‟. They tend to completely take away all rights and self respect of prisoners. This is unlike the general prison practice and legislation in the advanced Nations. For instance in the United Kingdom, Rule 10 of the Prison Rules 1 Dambazau, A.B (2007). Criminology and Criminal Jusitice. Spectrum Books Ltd, Ibadan, p.197.2 Item No.48 of The Exclusive Legislative List of the Second Schedule to the Constitution; A – G., Abia State V. A.G – Federation, (2002) 6 NWLR p.763, p.264, at pp.385 – 386.1
(1999) S1 1999/78 provides that every prisoner must be provided as soon as possible after his inception into prison and in any case within 24 hours, with information in writing about those provisions of the Prison Rules and other matters which are necessary for him/her to know, including his earnings, privileges and the proper method of making requests and complaints. This is not so under the Nigerian Prison Legislation.
There is an ill-conceived notion that prison inmates have no rights within the general population. Their rights may be limited; but they have a degree of human and civil rights that is guarding how are being treated within the prison environment.
This study being on suspects on remand is intended to see whether or not their rights as enshrined in these instruments and local laws are being respected. But if otherwise, what are the nature and extent of the violations, at what stages do they suffer these violations and what factors responsible for such violations. These are the specific issues that will form the focus of the study.
1:2 Statement Of The Problem
The global community has recognized and enshrined human rights provisions in many international conventions. The most important among them is the International Bill of Human Rights, proclaimed and adopted at various times by the General Assembly of the United Nations. This comprises of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948), The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (March 1976), and The International Covenant on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights (January 1976).The first of these is primarily a declaratory statement of these basic inalienable rights. It is intended to serve as the ‘common standard of achievements for all peoples and all nations and is of great moral authority.’(Ajomo and Okagbue, 1991:149).
The United Nations Human Rights instruments under Principle 1 of the Body of Principles for the Protection of all Persons Under any Form of Detention or Imprisonment for instance provides that, “All persons under any form of detention shall be treated in a humanitarian manner and with respect for the inherent dignity of the human person.” Similarly, Principle 38 states that, “…a person detained on a criminal charge shall be entitled to trial within a reasonable time or to release pending trial.” Furthermore, the African Union Charter on Human and Peoples right, for instance, spells the third category of rights, that is, the rights of peoples (which are new) based on the African economic and developmental reality because of the relevance of economic power in realizing human potential, (Nzongola-Ntalaja, 1994:9).
Human rights are usually guaranteed and enshrined in the constitutions or such other relevant legal documents of different nations. The provisions of Nigeria’s Constitution of 1960, 1963, 1979, 1989 and 1999, have all laid emphasis on the protection of the Universal Declaration and promote the protection of the rights of detainees.
Nigeria’s 1999 constitution section 35 sub-sections 3 provides that any person who is arrested or detained shall be informed in writing within 24 hours (and in a language that he understands) of the facts and grounds for his arrest and detention. In addition, the law as stated in the 1999 Constitution provides that a person arrested shall not be handcuffed or otherwise be bound or subjected to unnecessary restraint except by order of court. But this law shall not apply where there is reasonable apprehension of violence or an attempt to escape or where the restraint is considered necessary for the safety of the person arrested. Where force is necessary or allowed in effecting an arrest, only such force as is required to overcome the resistance of the person sought to be arrested is permissible and an officer using excessive force may be made answerable for such.
To forestall the problems of the judiciary, Justice Kayode Eso Panel was put in place to examine, inter alia “…the negative public perception of the Nigerian judiciary as exemplified by complaints/allegations of polarization of the judicial system along ethnic, tribal and/or political leanings; corruption and high profile lifestyle of some judges; ineptitude, laziness and incompetence of judges; long period of time in disposition of cases; ridiculously high cost of obtaining justice; mode of appointment of judges, which does not facilitate the appointment of the right caliber of judges into the service; and the terms and conditions of service of the judges.
Furthermore, due to the shortcomings of the system, scholars like Odekunle (2000) advocates de-institutionalized methods of punishing offenders by employing alternative ways like compensation in cash and/or kind, reconciliation/restoration, community service/labor, probation, suspended sentence, furlough, etc. It is also, argued that where offenders are publicly shamed, made to return stolen items, nurse their victim to good health deterrence may be more assured than imprisonment and these methods were used in pre-colonial Nigeria, and were efficient and effective (Odekunle, 2000).
There is an assumed inefficiency and ineffectiveness within the criminal justice agencies resulting in prolonged detention awaiting trial which stem from the general neglect of the justice system. There are indications that verbal and physical abuse, and economic losses represent the nature, extent and types of human rights violations detainees encounter while on remand. By and large, the socioeconomic correlates of the victims of abuse show that they are poor, unemployed people with low literacy level remanded in a foreign and judicially technical system that marginalizes them in a costly fashion due to its capitalistic nature.
1.3 Objectives Of The Study
The broad objective of this research is to examine and analyze Human Rights Abuses In The Nigerian Prison System: a Case Study Of Niger State Prison. In specific terms this research is set out to:
(i) ascertain the extent of prisoners’ rights abuses and its effects on their lives in prisons in Niger State;
(ii) determine the factors responsible for the abuses;
(iii) examine the measures that need to be taken to incisively and concisely address all problems of prisoners rights abuses.
1.4 Significance Of The Study
This is a research that touches on the rights and freedoms of mainly under-privileged people. Thus, this research when completed and its recommendations implemented, such people will know more of their rights and freedom within the criminal justice system. This is because the research centers on suspects awaiting trial that constitute the bulk of the prison population and are adversely affected by the problems bedeviling the criminal justice system.
The research will help in highlighting those areas in which people have rights and whose violation by government agencies will not be possible once the people are aware of these rights especially those rights spelt out in the Constitution and other statute books. The research will also awaken the consciousness of people engaged in the dispensation of justice, so that they can cherish and respect the ethics of their profession. Therefore, when completed and the recommendations contained in the study implemented by the relevant authorities, corruption by criminal justice administrators, financial extortion, infringement on human rights and undue harassment and repression meted out to suspects awaiting trial will be drastically reduced if not completely eradicated.
In addition, awareness will be raised among the organs charged with the dispensation of justice regarding the status of detainees awaiting trial. This is especially to do with the fact that suspects are deemed innocent until proven guilty by a competent judicial court of law. The assumption is that some violations occur due the inefficiency and ineffectiveness of the organs charged with the administration of justice. Furthermore, these agencies have over the years been unprofessional and not as independent as they are supposed to be.
The research will be of benefit to policy makers since the study is intended to highlight areas of human rights violation with a view to making corrections. This will benefit the country since respect for human rights is now a yardstick for international recognition and acceptance.
There are few in-depth studies on prisons in Nigeria. The C.L.O for instance, surveyed fifty-six prisons in Nigeria. The second phase of the C.L.O project concentrated on certain categories of people like women, children, the elderly and the mentally ill. Useful as this empirical data is, it says little about Awaiting Trial Inmates (ATI) in general as attention was on women awaiting trial; this study will bridge this gap. One major revelation of past studies on Nigerian prisons indicates that conditions in these prisons are uniformly bad, and there has been little change for the better.
1.4 Research question
(i) To what extent are the prisoners’ rights abused and its effects on their lives in prisons in Niger State ?
(ii) What are the factors responsible for the abuses ?
(iii) What are the measures that need to be taken to incisively and concisely address all problems of prisoners rights abuses ?
1.5 Scope Of The Study
The scope of this study covers human rights abuse suffered by detainees awaiting trial in Nigeria. The agencies/institutions covered include of the police, courts and prisons located in Niger state. The population comprised of the justice officials in these agencies/institutions and the detainees awaiting trial in police and prison cells.
Therefore, the purview of this study rests on what happens from the point of arrest through trial and the role, action or inaction of the principal characters involved in the administration of justice regardless of the motivating factors for the alleged or actual offence. The units of analysis for this study are detainees in the four prisons, the sampled prison authorities and the sampled police officials. When the data generated is aggregated, the units of analysis are reduced to the four prisons and the police stations covered
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