Lagos — THE Civil Liberties Organisation (CLO) has blamed the death of an inmate in Ikoyi Prison which caused last week's riot on the detention of suspects for longer period than necessary.

The CLO in a reaction to the prisoners' rampage, said the unnecessary detention of inmates awaiting trial is what is responsible for the overcrowding of the nation's prisons. "Overcrowding is worse in the cells occupied by awaiting trial inmates, who constitute about 70% of the population of inmates in Nigeria's prisons.

"To conserve space in the awaiting trial cells, most of the prisons do not provide beds in them. Some of the inmates sleep on bare floor or mats or at best thin mattresses where these are available.

"Health problems associated with prison congestion are chicken pox, rashes, eczema, measles, tuberculosis etc. The foregoing shows that if the intake of awaiting trial inmates is reduced or minimized through the abolition of the holding charge, the facilities in the prisons will not be overstretched as they are now," the CLO contended.

According to the group, awaiting trial inmates are the by-products of the practice and procedure in the system of administration of criminal justice in Nigeria, which encourages the remand of awaiting trial persons, pending their arraignments before the appropriate court for trial.

Awaiting trial inmates

The group contended further that what was more worrisome was the fact that most awaiting trial inmates had had their liberty curtailed by magistrate courts that do not have jurisdiction to try their alleged offences.

"It is trite law that where a court does not have jurisdiction to try a matter the same court cannot make a binding order, and worse still, an order that will take away the fundamental right of any person, albeit an accused person.

"This is because the order itself is a nullity. It is invidious for the criminal justice system to shut its eyes to the phenomenon of the holding charge which portrays the judiciary as an ally in depriving persons who the constitution says are innocent until found guilty of their rights.

"In many cases, many of these persons languish in detention for over 14 years and in any case for periods longer than the maximum sentence for the offences they were alleged to have committed," said the CLO.

FG to be blamed for inmates revolt

It said the federal government rather than prison warder and other personnel should be blamed for the death of the inmate which resulted in the riot at Ikoyi prison last week.

"On the face of it, there is a temptation to blame the prison authorities, especially the warders and other prison personnel who are directly in charge of these inmates, the CLO begs to differ in so many respects.

"Wise counsel should prevail on this issue and pertinent questions must be asked to ascertain where to lay the blame.

"Since the deceased inmate had HIV/AIDS, it is necessary to ascertain whether there are facilities in our prisons to arrest such situations.

"Has the government truly been alive to its responsibilies as far as that sector of the sector is concerned? The structures of Ikoyi prison are dilapidated. The cells are overcrowded and the ventilation is poor," the group noted.