Sometime before the March 28, 2015 presidential elections that brought President Mohamadu Buhari and Vice-President Prof. Yemi Osibanjo to power, Prof. Osibanjo granted Sahara Reporters an interview in which he, among other things, discussed Nigeria’s existing criminal administration and prison systems. He revealed during the interview that Nigeria was holding about 60,000 people in its prisons and that over half of those people were awaiting trial. What he forgot to mention, maybe out of sincere omission, was the fact that some of these detainees have been awaiting trial for decades. Every Nigerian person born and raised in Nigeria needs no lecture on the over congested, dehumanizing, abusive and excruciating conditions that exist in our prisons.   

Based on the above referenced interview one can draw a reasonable inference that there are over 30,000 people in Nigeria’s prisons awaiting trial. While these detainees are considered innocent until proven guilty, many of them have spent more time awaiting trial than the prison term stipulated for their offences. Believing that this government’s claim to protecting the human rights of all Nigerians, I was hoping that one of the first things this government will do upon assuming power will be to call for a complete list of those detained in our prisons, along with their alleged offences and the date marking the commencement of their detention with a view to releasing those who have spent more than 50% of the prison term stipulated for their alleged offences while awaiting trial - I believe pre-trial prison time should be counted as double as is the case in many parts of the world.  

Almost nine full months into this administration of CHANGE, there is no evidence to suggest that the plight of these detainees is on the priority list of the government. At a time when the nation is transfixed with the endless applications and motions and shenanigans of the fewer than fifty Dasukigate suspects and their shameful conspiracy with the courts to frustrate efforts to bring them to book, more than 30,000 Nigerian citizens are wasting away in our prisons for no justifiable reason. The double jeopardy of the detainee’s unjust detention is that they are also victims of Nigeria’s woeful failure to discharge its obligation of providing them with fair and speedy trials. Many of these detainees are sick, abused and malnourished. Some of them have also died. You cannot fault anyone for believing that these individuals would not be in prison today if, instead of being suspected of stealing goats, chickens and involvement in petty thievery, they had stolen billions and driven banks into bankruptcy. This way they will be able to hire SANs to frustrate their prosecution and bribe our sticky-fingered judges. 

Some of detainees I am talking about are facing serious charges. But that is irrelevant now. It is irrelevant because had they been speedily prosecuted and sentenced, many of them would have completed their sentences and be free. It is also irrelevant because having been deprived of their right to a speedy trial and spent more years in prison awaiting trial than the period of incarceration demanded by the law, the least form of remorse the country can show is to release them immediately. Vice-President Osibanjo comes across like a man with an abiding passion for law and cares about the rights of all Nigerians. His background as a lawyer should serve as a constant reminder of the sanctity of the human rights of every Nigerian, irrespective of whether they can afford one of the many discredited SANs or not. 

As a strong and unapologetic supporter of the Mohamadu Buhari government, I am often surprised by the nonchalant manner with which the government misses almost every opportunity to demonstrate that government actions are driven by broadly articulated fundamental principles and not just some spur of the moment haphazard thought process. The broad principle here is that every Nigerian is entitled to equal treatment before and under the law, irrespective of means. Can this government sincerely claim to be acting in accordance with this principle in the case of these detainees? By way of deviation, another example of the government’s uncoordinated actions is the decision to commence the war against corruption without a concomitant attack on the corrupt judiciary and National Assembly. Now we are starting to see the lawmakers frustrate its anti-corruption agenda and the lawyers and courts seeking and having granted frequent adjournments requests that are designed to frustrate the war against corruption. A clearly articulated anti-corruption principle would have dictated a well coordinated simultaneous attack on these corrupt institutions as the right approach. 

You wonder what the government stands to lose by releasing these detainees. If anything, such an action will increase the decibels of the government’s commitment to the rule of law for everyone, not just the Sambo Dasukis, Ricky Tarfas and Olise Metuhs. Such an action will improve the aesthetics of this government that has taken some bashing in the wake of the budget padding scandal. How is the course of justice served by continuing to unjustifiably detain over 30,000 presumably innocent Nigerians? If anything, it makes the government look callous, uncaring, narrow visioned and lacking a thorough understanding of what is needed to create a culture of respect for the law and a feeling of equality among Nigerians. A clear case of injustice like this one is often what leads many average Nigerians into believing that the entire system is rigged in favor of the rich and the only way out for them is to do whatever is necessary to get rich, including murder, treasury looting and acts of economic and financial sabotage. It is the left over feces’ that stains the underwear! 

This government must be very careful about the messages it is sending to Nigerians through its actions and inactions. The more it is perceived to be like the government it replaced the more it will be resented by Nigerians and the better traction and ammunition its critics will have. There are several problems that were created by the Goodluck Jonathan government and those before his. Some of these problems have easy solutions, yet it beats ones imagination as to why this government does not see or act to swiftly remedy those problems. The unjustifiable detention of over 30,000 citizens of this country is one of them. These detainees are peoples’ fathers, mothers, brother, sisters, aunts, uncles, nieces and nephews. They deserve to go home today and not spend one more day in jail. It is not every problem of wrongful detention that needs to be taken to Amnesty International or the international arena with the attendant washing of our dirty linens in public before simple solutions are implemented. Mr. President, please let the detainees go today in the name of justice, fairness, CHANGE and God Almighty.