NULAI/OSIWA Pre Trial
Project Self Reflection
My
name is Nweke Ogadinma, a 400 level clinician from the University of Abuja Law
Clinic andI had the wonderful opportunity of being able to visit the prison for
the first time in April. The open society initiative for West Africa (OSIWA)
and the network of universities legal aid Institute (NULAI) did a great job by
involving law clinics in the expanding access to justice for pre-trial
detainees project and I was lucky to be a partaker of this juicy opportunity to
extinguish the ills that is going on in the prison service in Nigeria. Going
through all the trainings and workshops I thought I had it all and was finally
ready to march into the prison like a lioness. Right from the far distance, I saw the colours of the walls looking so
aggressive but I decided against the pounding in my chest and I told myself I
came here for an interview and if I do get arrested for any reason I had my
identity card with me. Almost immediately,
someone muttered ' ah these prisoners can beat someone and collect the person's
ID' then I swallowed hard and adjusted the ID in my hand wishing things would
not turn around and we end as the prisoners while the prisoners ended up as the
clinicians. My teammates did not even act like we were going into a prison
facility; Gbemisola was behaving like she had lived in prison all her life but
not until after the visit did she explain to us what was going on in her head
and how she tried to be in a calm mood to carry out the interview smoothly. Mr
Uzodike on the other hand was acting like if they just see his face they would
allow him into the courtyard to start the interview immediately. Oh the prison
officials' first contact with us and I thought these people do not want us
here, they actually acted like they did not know we were coming.
 |
| My teammates and I, from left to right Samira, Gbemisola, Vera, Ogadinma, Vivian and Uzodike, Vivian and Ogadinma (myself) Team justice champs |
After
much wait for the officials to finalize the protocol issues, we were finally
allowed into the courtyard after a search that felt like they were looking for
our spirits. Then I came one on one with the men whose world had been turned to
numerous walls and gates that had nothing close to a soon hope. As a little
girl, I had always thought every person that goes into a prison must have
committed some sort of atrocious act but I was marveled when my teammates and I
interviewed an inmate who had no idea why he was arrested. I felt so trapped by
justice that I could not breathe properly.
One
of the major occurrences during the interaction with the detainees was the ill
treatment they were getting, there was a song more common than the lyrical
complain about lack of proper food andoverpopulation and this was the
evilmetted out by the SARS officials.' I
spent three (3) months plus at the SARS and was beaten severely and severally
at the SARS office and was forced to admit to a crime I did not commit'.
Then I ask what happened to every person charged with criminal offense is
presumed innocent until proven guilty? Is there a courtroom we are not aware of
at the SARS office? And if there is, who is the presiding judge? Who
represented the prisoners? When our grundnorm has been violated and everyone is
equal and in worse cases above the rule of law, what will become of innocent
creatures like us who have no one to lift us above the law or even half way
through it. So it has become a normal practice for the special anti-robbery
squad (SARS) to just pick people up and keep them locked up for months and if
they are not able to pay for bail or most importantly bribe, they are thrown
into prison for as long as they wish. Many of these inmates have never seen the
four walls of a courtroom yet they are being bullied and treated like hardened
criminals, worse off their families are not aware of their whereabouts. In kuje
prison, the prisoners do not have adequate representation. One of the inmates
testified to this fact by alleging that he had been there for about seven
(7)months and had no legal representation although he had been told that he had
a lawyer working on his case, he had not seen any lawyer before. This is
equally due to the issue of poor case management system in the prison. I found
it quite preposterous that a person would be arrested and no charge is against
him and then he is forced to identify with some unknown persons and forced to
accept that he committed some certain crime with these Unknown individuals.
My
participation in this project has greatly influenced my thinking and
perspective of the prison service in kuje and in Nigeria generally. It is
obvious that what we hear about the prisons is nothing close to what we saw in
the course of our visitation. The case is worse, the prison is definitely not a
place I would wish upon my worse enemy. The prison visit equally influenced my
behavior towards the inmates, I believe they deserve some sort of better
treatment unlike the harsh treatments they get from the outside world because
they are going through hell in there.
I
learned a whole lot from this prison visit one of which is the fact that my
communication skills got sharpened and well articulated. I also learned that
Nigeria has a lot of work to do in reforming our justice system and making the
prisons what it is originally meant to be - a rehabilitative and correctional
facility and not a place for extortion of the poor masses.
The thing I observed made me feel quite upset
and afraid as well as unsafe because it could have been me or any of my
relatives that is going through that traumatic experience. If something is not
done and done quickly it means no one is safe in this country because our
security is at risk. Anyone can be a victim.
. #Justice is free
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