Stephen Ukandu, Umuahia
Magistrates and Divisional Police Officers (DPOs), in Abia State, have committed to the effective implementation of sections 33 and 34 of the Abia State Administration of Criminal Justice Law, ACJL, 2017, to actualise the desired objectives of the law.
This was the major highlight of a one-day sensitisation workshop organised by the Rule of Law and Anti-Corruption Programme (RoLAC), funded by the European Union, and implemented by the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA).
Abia ACJL 2017 sections 33 and 35 require Police Officers (DPOs), to, on monthly basis, report to the Chief Magistrate in their area, the number of inmates under detention in their facilities.
Another key requirement of the sections is the visit of detention facilities by Supervising Magistrate to inspect their condition as well as the condition of the inmates.
Speaking at the well-attended workshop, the Abia State RoLAC Project Coordinator, Mr Peter Omenka, said the aim of the workshop was to bring Magistrates and DPOs who he described as critical stakeholders in critical justice administration, together under one roof and sensitise them on their roles for necessary collaboration.
He noted that RoLAC in phase one of the project, supported magistrates’ oversight of detention centres and the enforcement of reporting obligations by law enforcement agencies in the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Abuja, but decided to extend the initiative to Abia State, in phase two.
“Our objectives are to enhance magistrates’ capacity to conduct regular oversight visits to detention facilities; and to sensitise magistrates and police officers on their statutory duties under the ACJ Law,” the ROLAC boss said.
He further said: “During such visits, we want the Magistrate to look at the conditions of the detainees and their alleged offences and determine if they should be there at all. If they are not, the Magistrate should make relevant orders either to release them or grant them bail or order that they be arraigned.”
The resource person and Deputy Chief Registrar in charge of Litigations, FCT, Chief Magistrate Muinat Folashade Oyekan, spoke on the theme, “Ensuring Compliance with Reporting Obligation, Basis and Principles applicable to Magistral Visit to Places of Detention Under Sections 33 and 34 of the ACJL, Abia State, 2017.”
Sharing her experiences at the FCT, Magistrate Oyekan said the judiciary and law enforcement agencies must not work at cross purposes but in synergy as provided by the law for the success of criminal justice administration in the country.
She identified lack of synergy between law enforcement officers and the judiciary as a major setback against the ACJL in Nigeria.
“There has to be proper synergy between them. The law enforcement agencies especially the police should understand that they are not being witch-hunted by the Courts. It’s just an effort to follow due process and the laws.”
Responding to complaints that the courts often discharge criminal suspects soon after their arraignment, Magistrate Oyekan said “cases are won or lost based on evidence before the court and not based on emotions.”
She advised law enforcement agencies to be thorough in their investigation before arraignment if they truly wanted to get conviction against a defendant.
“So, I will advise the law enforcement agencies to ensure that proper investigations are done before charging a matter to court. They should make sure that the right evidence is put forward and proven before the court because what the court weighs is the evidence before it.
“Emotions can’t win cases in court, it’s evidence that does so. The court does not have any choice not to discharge the defendant if there is no compelling evidence before it to convict him.”
Responding to a question on arraignment of a defendant before the wrong court, she blamed the anomaly on ignorance, hence the essence of the workshop.
“I want to believe it’s an anomaly, and some do it out of ignorance. That’s why we’re engaging in this awareness. But when that happens, the Magistrate or Judge can give directives to ensure that arraignment is done at the appropriate court.”
Later in an interview, one of the participants and Deputy Chief Registrar, Abia High Court, Executive Secretary of ACJL Monitoring Committee, Abia State, Nkwachi Onwutuegbe Matthew, described the workshop as “a wonderful innovation,” and thanked RoLAC for sponsoring it.
“We have longed for this synergy and we are glad that we had a worshop that brought the police and the magistrates together to achieve the aim of sections 33 and 34 of the Abia ACJL, Abia, 2017.
“Prior to this workshop, we have had hitches in implementing sections 33 and 34, but at the end of the worshop, we can see that police particularly are open to it. A lot of them are not even aware that such a thing is documented somewhere.
“Based on the level of collaboration at the worshop, I’m optimistic that going forward it would not be a problem anymore.”
Magistrates and DPOs from across all 17 Councils in the state participated in the worshop.
