A non-governmental organisation (NGO), Handel Pro-Bono Link and Empowerment Foundation has said that treating people in prison with justice and fairness will always have a ripple effect that can help build safer and fairer communities.
It promised to assist ex-convicts in their quest to reintegrate into society by helping them secure free legal services, job access, skills, education, and other necessities.
The foundation’s founder, Barr Christy Oboh, stated this during a seminar titled “Enhancing Collaboration for Quick Access to Justice in Decongestion of Correctional Services (centres) in Nigeria.” The seminar discussed issues concerning inmates, justice, and security to see how they could propose solutions to their challenges.
Oboh said where an ex-offender does not have access to a good reintegration plan, the tendency of re-offending in the face of the challenges of rejection by family and friends, stigmatisation and no means of livelihood and lack of shelter, there is every tendency for re-offending, and this must not be overlooked if we must secure a safe society for all.
According to her, discharged prisoners, just like any other Nigerians, have the potential to contribute to
the socio-political and economic growth of the country but such is dependent on the quality and success of their reintegration process, adding that it’s disheartening to see government parastatals stating in job application form asking if you’re an ex-convict and of course if your answer is yes, you will be denied of that job, this shouldn’t be done, she said.
She advocated for a just and fair prison system that treats people with consistency, impartiality and respect, a place where conflict is resolved and people have the opportunity to turn their lives around and recognises that punishment is imposed by the courts and not by the prison, she reiterated the commitment of the foundation to volunteer in assisting indigent inmates who cannot afford the services of lawyers because it’s their constitutional rights to have lawyers represent them in court even if they don’t have the money to pay for such services.
In his keynote address, the General Secretary of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Mr. Adesina Adegbite, pointed out causes of decongestion in Correctional centres, such as delayed justice by the courts, perpetuated by judges, illegal arrests perpetuated by the police, the inability of Correctional services indigent inmates to afford the services of a legal representative, and many more reasons.
He suggested ways to decongest the centres by calling on courts to speed up the justice process and counselling the police against illegal arrests. He praised HANDEL’s efforts in offering pro-bono services to indigent inmates and contended that all the efforts enumerated could go a long way toward decongesting the prisons.
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