Innocent Anaba
19 December 2008
Come February 4, 2009, Nigeria will face the United Nation Human Rights Council at the Universal Periodic Review (UPR), as the country's human rights record will be subjected to scrutiny by the world human right body. Already, Nigerian Civil Society Orgainisations have also submitted their report. In the report, which will be deliberated alongside government officials' report, the report of the national human rights, in our case the report of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), Nigerian civil society groups highlighted 9 major areas of concerns.
Vanguard Law and Human Rights looks at the the CSOs report, which examined the following areas: prisons/prisoners' rights, the Niger Delta question, safety and security, electoral justice, women and children's rights, torture and extrajudicial killings and access to courts/justice.
The CSOs, meanwhile, want the world human rights body to prevail on the Nigerian government to ensure and enhance the enjoyment of the fundamental rights and freedoms by all Nigerians.
On Prisons/Prisoners' Rights
The report noted that Nigeria's prison system is beset with well-known and fairly well-documented problems, including high awaiting trial population occasioning congestion, poor sanitary and health facilities, decaying infrastructure, amongst others. In previous attempts at reforms, the government set up panels such as National Working Group on Prison Reform and Decongestion (2005), Inter-Ministerial Summit on the State of Remand Inmates in Nigeria's Prisons (2005), Presidential Committee on Prison Reform and Rehabilitation (2006) and Presidential Commission on the Reform of the Administration of Justice (2006).
These panels submitted their reports, recommending far-reaching reforms to the government. Unfortunately, successive governments have shown apathy towards implementing the reports of the panels it created.
The report further stated that successive governments have also demonstrated less than satisfactory commitment to reforming the laws regulating Nigeria's prisons. The current Prisons Act was enacted in November 1947 (61 years ago) and is yet to undergo any fundamental reform since. A draft Prisons Bill presented to the federal parliament in 2004 is yet to become law.
Although there have been efforts by the state to address prison congestion, these efforts have been episodic and do not address the root causes of congestion, which may succinctly be described as institutional failures in the criminal justice system.
For instance, in many states, persons arrested for crimes bearing the capital punishment are arraigned before courts that lack jurisdiction over such offences and remanded in prison custody for extended periods, ostensibly to conclude investigations.
In many cases, these suspects are detained for 3-10 years as there is yet no mechanism to ensure that they are brought before the courts within a reasonable time limit. Indeed, many are incarcerated beyond the maximum prison term prescribed for the alleged crimes.
Intricately linked to congestion in prisons is the patent absence of sentencing guidelines for judicial officers whose mandate extends to criminal matters. This category of judicial officers almost always resort to imprisonment as a punishment and correctional option.
Prisoners' rights are routinely and systema-tically violated. Prison officials assault inmates, violating constitutional guarantees against cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment, and deny them good nutrition. Sometimes, prisoners' right of access to the courts are impeded by failure to provide vehicles to convey them to court. Access to medical care is also impeded by the absence of adequate health facilities. Generally, government does not provide adequate care for inmates.
Recommendations
Meanwhile, the committee recommended that government should implement recommendations of past Commissions on measures to reduce prison population. The executive and legislative arms of government should expedite action on the new Prisons Bill and ensure passage as soon as possible. Prison infrastructure should be rehabilitated and new facilities built. New sentencing guidelines and alternatives to custodial sentencing should be adopted and implemented. The Police Duty Solicitors Scheme should be replicated in all states to obviate the danger of long-term incarceration in police custody.
The Niger Delta Question
The epidemic of violence that plagues much of the Niger Delta has its roots in the corrupt, violent and unaccountable nature of politics in the region. Governments of the core Niger Delta states have failed to protect life and property as provided for in the Constitution.
In July and August 2007, warring gangs in Port Harcourt, the capital of Rivers State, unleashed an unprecedented wave of violence against the city and its people, leaving dozens of people dead and scores more wounded. Many victims were ordinary Nigerians who were either caught in the crossfire between rival gangs or deliberately shot by gang members.
Gang violence spread to other Rivers State communities as well. The bloodshed was a widely predicted aftershock of Nigeria's rigged and violent April 2007 nationwide elections. Most of the gangs involved gained experience and power as the hired guns of Rivers State politicians who used them to rig elections and intimidate political opponents.
Over the years, these gangs have become involved in other forms of lucrative criminal activity, including the theft of crude oil, bank robbery, kidnappings for ransom and other violent crimes. In large part, due to their political connections, these gangs have committed crimes with impunity. The Police have made no serious effort to press criminal charges against them nor apprehend any significant gang leader, even though several of them live openly in urban areas.
Rivers' post-election gang warfare spiralled far out of control that the Federal Government ordered a military-led Joint Task Force (JTF) - a combined force of Police, military and State Security Service (SSS) personnel - to intervene and stop it. The JTF were quick to restore order to Port Harcourt and other communities but, in the process, killed civilians without justification, arbitrarily detained and beat others and looted homes of people in communities that looked to them for security.
Despite the presence of JTF, kidnappings and other forms of cult violence continued to claim lives in early 2008. Until recently, armed gangs continue to kidnap people for ransom in Rivers State, including children. The status quo is not sustainable; the problem has been bottled up but will inevitably explode anew unless those responsible for generating the violence are held to account.
Rivers State's government is the wealthiest state government in Nigeria, a position it derives from the state's status as the heart of Nigeria's booming oil industry. Rising world prices in recent years have flooded the state's treasury with a budget larger than those of many West African countries.
In spite of this, Rivers has some of the worst socio-economic indices in the world - its people lack access to employment opportunities, education, health care and other basic needs. Instead of putting its massive oil revenue to developing the state for the benefit of the entire population, its politicians have largely squandered the money through corruption and mismanagement, and leaving the region under-developed.
Ironically, the young men, who are attracted to the well-funded gang activity because of poverty and unemployment are helping to fuel the same problems accountable for their lack of opportunities.
The situation in Rivers State is typical of all the Niger-Delta states. Their wealth has not just been squandered and opportunities wasted, but has been used to sponsor violence and insecurity on behalf ruling party politicians.
Government responses to security and development challenges in the Niger-Delta have been grossly inadequate. For the past 9 years, the Niger-Delta Development Commission (NDDC) has managed the government's programme for "rapid, even and sustainable development of the Niger-Delta to a region that is economically prosperous, socially stable, ecologically regenerative and politically peaceful."
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