The Nation Newspaper

Tag: prisoners

  • UK to send hundreds of Nigerian prisoners home

    UK to send hundreds of Nigerian prisoners home

    There are 534 Nigerian nationals serving sentences in British prisons. UK Minister Jeremy Wright says prisoner transfer deal is close to being sealed, reports Daily Mail

    Hundreds of Nigerian criminals will be sent home to serve out prison sentences under a deal set to be struck by ministers within weeks.

    Talks are continuing into reaching a compulsory prisoner transfer agreement, which could see more than half of the 500 criminals from Nigeria currently in UK jails repatriated.

    Prisons minister Jeremy Wright told MailOnline how ‘more foreign prisoners must serve their sentences in their own countries’.

    Ministers have been ordered to step up efforts to end the scandal of more than one in eight prisoners being from overseas.

    The Prime Minister said in 2010 that he would ’personally intervene’ to send more foreign criminals home.

    Britain has even made clear it would pay to build new prisons in countries like Nigeria to speed up the process of sending foreign criminals home. Up to £1million has been promised to upgrade Nigerian jails, including a new wing at Kirikiri Prison in Lagos.

    But to date little progress has been made. When the coalition was formed there were 11,135 foreign prisoners in UK jails, and this figure has fallen by just three per cent since to 10,786.

    Each felon costs an average of around £40,000 a year to keep inside.

    Last week it was announced that notorious Liberian warlord Charles Taylor is to serve his 50-year sentence for war crimes in the UK.

    A prisoner-transfer agreement was struck with Albania earlier this year to ‘free up space in prisons here and reduce the cost to the British taxpayer’.

    It was the first major bilateral prisoner transfer agreement with a country outside the European Union.

    There were around 250 Albanians in UK jails in June this year.

    But securing an agreement with Nigeria would be seen as a much more significant breakthrough.

    Latest figures show there were 534 Nigerian nationals in British jails, 485 men and 49 women.

    Nigerians account for one in 20 of all foreign prisoners, putting the country fifth in the league table of nations whose citizens have been jailed in the UK.

    Justice Minister Mr Wright said: ‘I am clear that more foreign prisoners must serve their sentences in their own countries.

    ‘That is why we are currently working with the Nigerian Government on a compulsory prisoner transfer agreement to increase the number of prisoners who are transferred.

    ‘Legislation allowing Nigeria to enter such an arrangement was passed earlier this year by the Nigerian Parliament. We are now working with them on the text of a final agreement.’

    Overflowing jails abroad have made it increasingly difficult to deport prisoners to their own country.

    It is argued that by paying for building new jails or making existing ones more ‘comfortable’ so they approach British standards, will be repatriated.

    In April Mr Cameron said: ‘When people are sent to prison in the UK we should do everything we can to make sure that if they’re foreign nationals, they are sent back to their country to serve their sentence in a foreign prison.

    ‘And I’m taking action in Government to say look we have strong relationships with all of the countries where these people come from.

    ‘Many are coming from Jamaica, many from Nigeria, many from other countries in Asia.

    ‘We should be using all of the influence we have to sign prisoner transfer agreements with those countries. Even if necessary frankly helping them to build prisons in their own country so we can send the prisoners home.’

     

     

  • 68 Benue prisoners awaiting execution in Jos, says official

    Of the 169 awaiting trial inmates in the country, 68 of them from Benue State are awaiting execution at the Jos Prison in neighbouring Plateau State, it has been leanrt.

    There has been controversy over the execution of awaiting trial inmates since the Goodluck Jonathan administration proposed the idea.

    The Zonal Coordinator, Zone ‘H’ of the Nigerian Prisons, Makurdi, Mr Samuel Agidi, spoke in Makurdi, the Benue State capital, when he led other top prison officials on a visit to the Chief Judge (CJ), Justice Iorhemen Hwande.

    Agidi noted that most governors were reluctant to sign the death warrants of the condemned inmates.

    He urged the CJ to mount pressure on relevant authorities to ensure that the sentences of those from Benue State are either reduced or make the governor sign their warrants for execution.

    The Prison chief also urged Justice Hwande to ensure quick dispensation of justice.

    He frowned at the congestion at the Makurdi Prison, which he said is accommodating 768 inmates who are awaiting trial.

    Agidi said there is need for urgent decongestion of prisons across the country, adding that the current situation was embarrassing.

    He said the visit was a familiarisation exercise.

    The Prison chief promised to sustain the cooperation with the Judiciary to ensure quick dispensation of justice in the state.

    ‘Justice Hwande congratulated Agidi over his appointment and assured that the state would decongest the prisons.

  • Edo executions did not follow due process – Lawyers

    Edo executions did not follow due process – Lawyers

    Avocats Sans Frontières France (ASFF) otherwise known as lawyers without borders has condemned Monday’s execution of four death row inmates in Edo

    State.

    ASFF argued that the execution did not follow due process as the inmates were not allowed to fully exhaust all legal options available to them.

    According to a statement issued by the group, the executions were carried out despite the application for stay of execution by a human rights

    organisation.

    It stated that the executed inmates still had rights to appeal the decision of the Federal High Court.

    It said, “Recall that in October 2012, the execution warrants of the just executed inmates were signed but a legal suit was filed by the Legal

    Defence and Assistance Project (LEDAP) an NGO to stop the execution.

    Although the judgment delivered Monday in this case was not in favour of the inmates, an appeal was promptly filed against this decision.

    Unfortunately the appeal was not respected and the executions were carried out in total disregard of the processes filed before the court. ASF France

    has been rightly informed that the Attorney General of Edo State and the Nigerian prisons were duly served with the court processes comprising of

    the notice of appeal and motion for stay of execution.

    “The move by the federal government to resume execution of over 700 inmates on death row in Nigeria is contrary to commitments made by the

    Nigerian government at international level and is a huge dent on the human rights record of Nigeria. In November 2008, the African Commission

    on Human and Peoples’ Rights at its 44th Ordinary Session in Abuja, Nigeria, adopted a resolution calling on state parties to the African

    Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights to observe a moratorium on the death penalty.”

    It would be recalled that President Goodluck Jonathan had on Fathers’ Day celebration on June 16 in Abuja directed governors to exercise their

    constitutional responsibility by the signing death warrants for condemned prisoners.

  • Four prisoners executed in Edo

    Four prisoners executed in Edo

    Four prisoners on death row were executed yesterday by officials of the Nigeria Prison Services in Edo State.

    One of those also to be executed is to die by firing squad.

    The four prisoners were killed after a Federal High Court rejected a lawsuit file by some Non-Government Organisations (NGOs) against signing of the execution warrants by Governor Adams Oshiomhole.

    Edo State Commissioner for Justice and Attorney-General, Henry Idahagbon confirmed the execution but said it was an affair of the Nigeria Prisons.

    He said a notice of appeal was brought to him but whether it was served on prisons officials were not his concern.

    The names of the executed prisoners could not be confirmed as at press time.

    Deputy Director for Africa at Amnesty International, Lucy Freeman, in a statement, called for the halting of the executions and described the court decision as a major setback for justice and human rights in Nigeria.

    “The Nigerian authorities must immediately halt the execution of these five men and allow them to appeal their cases in the courts.”

    According to Amnesty International’s Death Sentences and Executions 2012 report, Nigeria has not carried out any known executions since 2006, but sentenced 56 people to death last year. Approximately, 1000 people are reportedly on death row in the country.

     

  • Over 500 Nigerians jailed in Brazil for drugs – Ambassador

    Over 500 Nigerians jailed in Brazil for drugs – Ambassador

    Nigeria’s Ambassador to Brazil, Mr. Vincent Okoedion,  said there are over 500 Nigerians serving jail terms in Brazil for drug peddling and related offences, affirming that many  Nigerians are residing in the country without proper documentation .

    Ambassador Okoedion , who disclosed this in an interview in Brasilia while meeting officials of Air Air, who were in the country to secure traffic rights from the Brazilian authorities to commence flights.
    He said the high commission will continue to ensure that Nigerians in the country are engaged in legitimate business.
    He said, ” We have many Nigerians who are in prison in this country. The numbers of Nigerians who are in prison in this country are about 500, including men and women. it is the group that are actually the main concern of the mission’ because we know that prison is not the place where our people should be in Brazil and what more they are the majority of Africans in prison in this country.

    “So we visit them in prison especially during the festivals that are observed in this country like Easter and Christmas. We take to them essential items that they need like toiletries mainly. So they are the subject of on going discussions between the mission and the host government.We also hold meetings with the community to let them know that they should be law abiding and that the police would not go after them if they obey the law of the land. It is only when the police see them engaging in illegal activities that the police will harass them. And then we also know that we have to a credible community leadership or association. That way, it makes it easier for us to deal with them as a group. So we can work them through their leaders. So right now we are trying to organise elections both for Nigerians as a community and Nigerians in Diaspora Organisation .”

  • That prisoners may read

    That prisoners may read

    T was an emotional session when a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), Zeacheus Onuba Dibiaeze Memorial Library (ZODML), donated e-books and other library resources to the Ikoyi Prison for its inmates. The inmates presented a drama on how cases are judged in Nigerian courts, with the accused condemned to life behind bars. One of them also provided music, singing a song titled: Freedom. The musician pasted papers bearing various inscriptions on his body. They include, affliction, suffering, sorrow and trouble. His lyrics said he was tired of government food, and missed his mother’s cooking. Some people in the audience shed tears. ZODML’s donation of Prison Knowledge Centre, consisting of 500 e-books, dictionaries, and bibles was meant to help the inmates to develop their minds while in prison. The NGO also donated copies of the Quran, encyclopedias, and Microsoft word office suite software, among others. Its Project Facilitator, Mrs Lilian Esiri said ZODML was consolidating on the foundation laid by the Muharam Sisters Foundation Education Centre (MSFEC), which had donated a library to the prison. She said ZODML aligned with the philosophy of Nigerian Prisons and correctional Service (NPCS), which she said is aimed at equipping inmates with values and skills that would help their re-integration into the society after their sentences. “NPCS has as its philosophy ‘that treatment and rehabilitation of offenders can be achieved through carefully designed and well articulated administrative, reformative and rehabilitative programmes aimed at inculcating discipline, respect for law and order and regard for the dignity of honest labour’. ZODML aligns with this philosophy and is committed to channelling some of its resources to help with this realisation. “The United Nations (UN) Office for Drugs and Crime has stated that ‘when released, often with no prospects for employment, former prisoners are generally subject to socio-economic exclusion and are thus vulnerable to an endless cycle of poverty, marginalisation, criminality and imprisonment. Thus, imprisonment contributes directly to the impoverishment of the prisoner, of his family (with a significant cross-generational effect) and of society by creating future victims and reducing future potential economic performance’. “It is this cycle that ZODML is trying to break with the establishment of the Prison Knowledge Centre (PKC) which we are here to open. The PKC is a centre with seven computers and over 2000 volumes of books. Each computer comes equipped with more than 500 e-books, the Bible and Koran, Microsoft Office Suite, games such as chess and scrabble, dictionaries and encyclopaedias.” On the cost of the project, she said, the organisation spent about N4 million raised from the public. MSFEC’s Principal, Mr Ayodele Obarewo said the centre is open to interested inmates willing to study. He told them that there were teachers available to teach them. He also said that 43 inmates whose cases will soon be determined by the court would be allowed to sit for this year’s Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME). “If they pass the exams, they would be allowed to attend the National Open University (NOUN), also situated in the area,” he said. The Chief Registrar of Lagos State High Court, Mr Ganiyu Safari thanked the organisation for the gesture and enjoined the inmates to make a judicious use of the computers and developed their minds by reading. This, he added, would provide them the opportunities to sit for public examinations.

  • 53 prisoners regain freedom in Adamawa

    53 prisoners regain freedom in Adamawa

    The Adamawa Jail Delivery Committee has discharged a total of 53 inmates from Yola Central Prison.

    The Chairman of the committee, Mr. Nathan Musa, disclosed this in a chat with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Yola on Tuesday.

    Musa, who is also the Acting Chief Judge of the state, said the committee had reviewed 60 cases during its visit to the prison, out of which 53 inmates were discharged.

    He said the committee was set up to investigate and review cases of inmates to determine if they were properly detained.

    “The purpose of our visits to prisons is to look at cases of some inmates especially those that have over stayed or are been detained not according to the provisions of the law.”

    According to him, the committee is empowered to grant bail or discharge such inmates.

    He added that the committee would visit other prisons in the state to review the cases of inmates.

    The Comptroller of Prison in the state, Mr. Andrew Barka, told NAN in a separate interview that the prison service was working with the committee to ensure justice and decongest the facilities.

     

     

  • Obi pardons 10 prisoners

    Obi pardons 10 prisoners

    Anambra State Governor, Mr. Peter Obi, has granted amnesty to 10 prisoners.

    This was contained in a memo with reference AG/AN/S.198/VOL. V1/174, made available to The Nation in Nnewi on Friday.

    The document was signed by the Secretary to the State Advisory Council on Prerogative of Mercy, M.C. Anyaorah.

    According to the Governor’s Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Mike Udah, the amnesty granted the prisoners is an annual ritual authorized by the Nigerian Constitution.

    Prior to the governor’s gesture, the prisoners were serving terms at the Onitsha and Aguata Prisons.

    A breakdown of the beneficiaries shows that nine of them were pardoned from Onitsha Prison, while one person was released from Aguata Prison.

    Those freed from Onitsha Prison are – Gabriel Onwuaana, Abuulmajeed Babalola, Daniel Chukwurah, Romanus Nwabueze and Adolphus Nwosu.

    Others are Okwudili Odife, Chidiebere Echefu,Joseph Akpan and Chikodi Nwoye .

    Mmaduabuchukwu Umechukwu, the 10th person was an inmate at Aguata Prison.

     

  • Orji pardon eight prisoners

    Abia State Governor Theodore Orji has pardoned eight prisoners as part of his prerogative of mercy for yesterday’s Christmas celebration.

    In a statement in Umuahia, the state capital, by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr Ugochukwu Emezue, the governor said the beneficiaries are Ngozi Simon, Ngozi Esina, Okwuonu Eme, Lawrence Egbu and Sunday Amala.

    They were serving various jail terms for murder.

    The rest are Chidiebere Jacob and Pius Anizo, who were convicted of manslaughter.

    The last beneficiary, Chibuzo Azuonwe, was convicted for robbery.

    In his Christmas message, Orji urged Christians in Abia State to “continue to exhibit those virtues Jesus Christ symbolises”.

    He advised the people “to use this period to pray for the peace and unity of Nigeria” because of the current security challenges in the country.

    The governor noted that “prayers can change situations for good”.

    The statement added: “The governor said he is optimistic that the country will soon become the envy of other nations.”

    It assured the people of tight security of life and property during and after the Christmas and New Year celebrations.

     

  • Oshiomhole wrong on death row prisoners

    Oshiomhole wrong on death row prisoners

    SIR: Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State, recently ordered the execution of two prison inmates pending appeal of their suits before the courts.

    The characters of these inmates were described by the prison authorities in the state as “ unmanageable “.

    Despite being on death row, the governor failed to recognize that these inmates have their Rights to Life pursuant to Section 33, 1999 Constitution.

    This section entrenches that everyone has a right to life and no one shall be deprived of this except under the circumstances permitted by law.

    Looking at the length and breadth of this section, the action of the governor has no legal backing for it is a breach of the law to execute someone pending appeal.

    Also affirming this right is Article 4 of the African Chatter on Human and Peoples Rights. To this end and others, the right to life has received the status of a jus cojen. It is universally recognized.

    Taking a clue from the decision of the court in Nosiru Bello v. A.G Oyo State (in which the court held that the killing of the deceased was unconstitutional), I think this mishap should be re-addressed.

    Lucy Freeman, Amnesty International’s deputy program director for Africa, speaking on this, described this act as “ a deep disrespect for the judicial process”.

    Not considering the fact that these two were convicted for murder, the constitution remains supreme (Section 1).

    The law will prefer 99 guilty persons freed than one innocent man killed. Since the deed hasn’t been done, there is still room to respect the grundnorm – The 1999 Constitution.

     

    • Ekpo Uduakobong

    Faculty of Law, University of Lagos.