My experience as a project participant has been an
awesome. It has been an eye-opening experience. I had never stepped into a
prison before but the project gave me the opportunity to do so. The cases we
have handled has actually opened my eyes to what is really going on in the
society. They are some people who I think were just victims of circumstances. I
remember a prison detainee that was interviewed. He was charged for theft and
kidnapping. According to him, he bought a phone from someone at a reasonable
price not knowing that the phone was a stolen property. Unfortunately for him,
the phone belonged to a victim of kidnapping who was still missing. So he was
accused of kidnapping.
Through the
advocacy visits, I have met the Comptroller of prisons, The Director of Public
Prosecution, the chief magistrate of Kwara state who are stakeholders in the
criminal justice system of Kwara State and through our interactions with them,
I was able to know more about how the criminal justice system works, the
challenges faced and steps being taken towards solving those challenges.
I have learnt a lot in the course of this project. I
learnt more on criminal procedure, how to interview and counsel a client. I
have drafted bail applications,
Being a part of this project has made me feel useful
to my society. I can remember a particular prison visitation, when the
detainees were brought by the prison officials. There was a look of hope on the
faces of the detainees and the way they looked at us like heroes, I indeed felt
like one.
The experience has changed my perspective of the
state of prisons. The prisons I visited were not so deplorable as I had always
thought. In fact I was surprised that there were vocational skills training in
the prisons. I remember a particular visitation at Oke-Kura Prison where we
bought some beautifully patterned hand-made fans from some of the detainees. I
was really impressed.
However I feel that there is need for improvement.
Record keeping of inmates files at the prison is very poor. A organized system of record keeping should be
put in place. There is also the issue of overcrowding of prisoners. At the
advocacy visit to the Comptroller of prisons, Kwara Stare, he complained about
the same thing and gave example of a prison facility built for 2000 inmates
that actually houses up to 5000 of them. More prison facilities should be built
to accommodate prisoners.
It has been a wonderful experience so far.
Written by:
Olaoba Oluwamayowa
300 level.
University of Ilorin Law Clinic
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