Niger State Chief Judge, Justice Halima Ibrahim Abdulmalik has frowned at the disconnect between the office of the Director of Public Prosecution, DPP, of the state Ministry of Justice and the legal unit of the State Police Command in handling cases of inmates awaiting trial.
The matter became an issue during the ongoing visit by the CJ to the old Minna Medium Correctional facility to decongest it of inmates awaiting trial.
Media Talk Africa reports that the DPP and the Police command were divided over the case files of inmates awaiting trial.
While the legal unit of the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department, SCIID, claimed that case files of inmates had been forwarded to the office of the DPP for legal advice, the latter claimed that such files could not be traced in its records.
The lack of proper synergy between the two is said to have kept most of the inmates at the correctional custody languishing in the facilities without being taken to court for trial.
In her reaction, Justice Abdulmalik described the trend between the DPP in the state Ministry of Justice and the Police command as unfortunate and worrisome.
According to her, “something is wrong; if you the Director of Public Prosecution has no good working synergy with the office of the head of the legal unit of the police, it is a call for concern”.
Speaking, the head of the Legal Aid Council (LAC) in the state, Mrs Bolanle Jibogun said some of the inmates have been in the facility since November 2022, when she last visited the Custodial centre during her maiden visit.
Jibogun told the CJ that based on her directive she had asked the DPP and the head of the prosecutors of the state police command, Mr Abdullahi Mayaki, ASP, to hasten the transfer of the case files of the inmates to the Ministry of Justice for legal advice which they refused to comply with.
According to her, “My Lord, in my own opinion, if they cannot trace their case files, it means they are not ready to comply. I suggest, my Lord, you should either discharge them or admit them to bail in liberal terms.”
