ASMAU IBRAHIM ABBA, UNI ABUJA LAW CLINIC: REFLECTION

NULAI/OSIWA PRE TRIAL PROJECT

SELF REFLECTION

My name is Asmau Ibrahim Abba, a 400 level clinician from the University of Abuja Law Clinic.
Few months ago, NULAI/OSIWA started a pre-trial detention project which is aimed at providing access to justice for pre-trial detainees, prison decongestion, creating awareness through the use of the provisions of the ACJA etc.
Many law clinics such as the ABSU law clinic, Nile law clinic, Base law clinic etc. are participating in this project. The Uniabuja law clinic like other clinics is actively involved in this project. In line with objectives of the project, we were grouped into teams some of which visited Suleja prison, Kuje prison, the DPP's office, the Nigerian prison services etc.

Participating in the pre-trial project is one of best experiences for me as a law student. The project was able to expose me to practical realities of the legal profession. Above all, I was able to have a face to face interaction with detainees and also to interview them. This has helped sharpened my communication skills. For once, I felt like a lawyer I'd dreamt to be! This is because, I consider this project as a form of service to humanity. It is not only a learning process, but a way of liberating people, uniting them with their loved ones and above all giving them opportunity to turn a new leaf.

Among the first thing I observed during my visit to the Suleja prison where some tiny openings which served as windows. It was my first time visiting prison in my life and the question I keep asking myself was how could someone put himself in a place like this? But then, in every society, there are deviants who must be checked to ensure they do not contaminate others.

However, these detainees are people who have not even been heard. They are persons who for one unfortunate reason or the other happened to find themselves there. During the cause of an interview with one of the detainee, he complained bitterly about how congested they are in a room. He spoke in hausa: "mu yan waje bamu samun wajen kwana ko kuma abinci mai kyau"
That is, "unlike the prisoners, we detainees do not have access to enough sleeping space, or enough food we have to squat with them"
And when I went further to ask about the prison condition and whether he's been maltreated by the prison official, he said: "No. I'm not being maltreated but, the thing is, there is nothing more than being free. Infact, for the past 6months I've been here, the feeling of being detained had deprive me of living a normal life. I'd choose my poor life hundred times over, rather than being stuck here"
The above points to the very fact that, had they been sentenced, they would have served their terms without being let to rotten there.

Also, the pre trial project has been able to change my mind-set on the whole idea of prison. This is because, prior to this project, I'd never known the difference between a prisoner or a detainee. All I thought was, whoever is in the prison is a criminal who's to be isolated from other people. How wrong was I! After interviewing about five inmates all of whom where in detention for months over trivial issues, I came to understand that prisoners serving their terms are even better than detainees who are stuck in the prison without any access to justice.

Among the things I observed was, these detainees constitute persons of working age. Infact, most of whom I was able to interview happened to be in their mid twenties. And looking at the population of Suleja prison, you need no soothsayer to tell you that the prisoners are more than the prison can carry. The number of detainees that trooped in front of me from different angles for the interview attest to this fact.
if the prison is not decongested, the number of detainees will continue to rise and out number those serving jail terms.

Again, during the interview, I discovered that these detainees are mostly poor people who survive on menial jobs like security guard, mechanic, subsistence farming, apprenticeship etc. to cater for themselves and their family. The point I'm trying to make here is, had these detainees have better means of livelihood, they wouldn’t have end of there. This is because, their crimes are mostly prompted due to pressure to survive in the worst economic condition. Its just heart aching to see able bodied young men being detained for unnecessarily long period of time without providing access to justice for them.

Olisa Agbakoba while lamenting about the prison conditions explained thus: “My heart bled at the level of idleness in our prisons. How can a society afford to keep a vibrant class of her people in such idleness? Can’t these prisons be turned to soap manufacturing industries where the prisoners will become employees of a special kind?”

In most developed countries, the practice of pre trial detention is gradually fading out. For example, in Netherlands, pre trial detention is only resorted to where the person is likely to pose a threat on the society where he's left undetained. In Nigeria however, its very common to detain persons for years for just a simple civil case that would have just required bail.

The most worrisome issues regarding pre trial detention is the process of obtaining statement which is in total violation of the provisions of the ACJA. For over the years, the police were known to facilitate this problem through their actions or inactions. In fact,  Four out of the Six inmates interviewed at the Suleja prison alleged either their statements were changed by the Police officer who obtained it or they were not even allowed to make one their selves.

SECTION 17(1)-(5)OF THE ACJA 2015 provides for the procedure recording the statement of suspect without necessarily violating his/her rights. Such issues as taking his statements in the presence of his lawyer or where he has none a lawyer from the Legal Aid Council or Where the suspect does not understands English to be interpreted to him in a language he understands. The question is how often do the police officers adhere to this provisions?

Most of the pre trial detainees wouldn’t have been there in prison had there been bails available to them. Despite bail being one of the fundamental rights of an accused, Its so disheartening to hear while interviewing many inmates that nothing like bail had ever been mentioned to them.  They were only put there and let to rotten without any hope of coming out.

It is trite law that the presumption of innocence is a fundamental right enjoyed by the accused person.

Furthermore, the accused person right to a bail is in line with the right to freedom of movement which is enshrine under SECTION 38 OF THE 1999 CONSTITION.

In conclusion, I must commend the efforts of NULAI/OSIWA for giving us an opportunity to be exposed to the realities on ground. And also, their collective efforts in trying to provide access to justice for these detainees.