Benjamin Franklin is reputed to have said, “Justice will not be served until those who are unaffected are as outraged as those who are.” Every time I read this quote, I wonder if anyone could actually describe themselves as ‘unaffected.’ Clearly, we are all in one boat, if there are holes on my side of the boat, sooner than later, we will all sink. Many agree that this is the story of humanity indeed.
It is in the light of the above that I deem it crucial we discuss and find a solution to the problem of the ever-increasing number of those awaiting trial in our prisons.
Nigerian prisons are overcrowded but what is even worse is that the prisons are filled mostly with persons who have not been found guilty of any offence i.e. persons awaiting trial. We are literally punishing many who are wrongly accused or are probably innocent. In fact, some of those awaiting trial have been in prison for a period longer than the punishment prescribed for the offence they were charged with. This is ridiculous.
This is worrisome, especially because it is no longer news that there is a lot of corruption in the land and this includes that in the Nigeria Police Force. Indeed, the implication of corruption in the Force is that an unimaginable number of people in our prisons are probably there because they are victims of corrupt practices.
One would probably not feel too bad about being arrested for no just cause if as soon as the matter is brought to court, the judge, upon seeing the lack of any reasonable case against you, immediately dismiss the charge.
Unfortunately, this is not how our criminal justice system works. What happens in reality is along this line: After an accused has been brought to court and the charges against him are read to him, his pleas are taken: where he pleads not guilty, he might ask to be granted bail (and if he doesn’t, the court has the discretion to grant bail nonetheless), and the court gives conditions to be met before the bail can be perfected (I mean before he can be allowed to be coming to court from home and not from prison). If the accused is unable to meet these conditions, he is taken back to prison and would remain there for as long as his case is still in court (which might be months or even years) or until he is able to meet the bail conditions.
Thus, naturally, our prisons are filled with mostly persons who are awaiting trial and cannot afford to meet their bail conditions.
This is why I have often said that if I were arrested for a crime that I did not commit, I would not wait until I am brought to court before I start trying to prove that I am innocent. I would try my best to settle the matter before it is brought to court because if it gets to court, I would most likely spend that night in prison. And in fact, I would remain in that prison until the bail conditions are met, some of which can be very difficult to meet. Some have spent three years in jail because they cannot meet their bail conditions.
Why would I prefer to go to court when the reality is that most of the inmates in our prisons are people who have NOT been found guilty? As in people who have actually been ‘granted bail by the court.’ People who are ‘presumed innocent until proven guilty.’ People who may actually be innocent.
Why this is very disturbing is that every day, corrupt police officers arrest persons for no just cause and very often, these persons cannot afford to meet the bail conditions set down by the judge. Therefore, these unfortunate persons have no choice than to remain in prison until their matter comes to an end where it will be discovered that the charges against them were false.
Imagine for a second, that a corrupt police officer arrests a commercial motorcyclist otherwise called okada rider for no other reason than that the okada man did not give him N100 like his colleagues. And then the officer makes a bogus claim that the okada man stole a motorcycle. Later, this rider is granted bail so that he can come from home to answer to the case. The problem this man will face will be meeting the bail conditions. If he cannot provide everything the judge imposes as conditions, he will be left in Kirikiri prison until the case is over. And there have been instances like this where cases take two or even more years.
The above illustration happens almost every day. It appears to me that the reason why bail conditions are stringent is because often times, judges tend to limit themselves to the nature of the charges before them in order to determine what bail conditions to impose. This should not be, especially because the charges may very well be baseless.
Also, I believe another reason why bail conditions are stringent, at least in Lagos State, is that the executive arm now uses the criminal justice system as a means of generating revenue. This should not be. They do this by insisting that sureties must have paid their taxes and this must be evidenced by a tax clearance. The view that tax collection should be distinct and separated from our criminal justice system is important in the current situation. As it is, indigent accused persons are the ones who suffer this type of hardship the most as they often cannot find friends or family members who can afford to pay the amount required as taxes required for bail.
The foregoing is why our prisons are filled with accused persons; the bail conditions are simply unaffordable. Sometimes, the court requests that only senior officers in the civil service must be provided to stand as surety. This presumption that everybody can get somebody in the civil service to stand as surety is clearly an unfair one. Clearly, not everyone can find persons who meet these criteria to stand as surety for them.
Bail conditions should not cost an arm and a leg. Bail conditions should not be punitive. The purpose of these conditions is simply to ensure that an accused person is available to answer the case brought against him every time he is needed in court.
It is surprising that in spite of provisions of our constitution which seek to protect the fundamental rights of an accused person, the courts could impose such terms and conditions.
The constitution provides that anyone who is accused of committing an offence is presumed innocent until it is proven that such a person is guilty (see Section 36 (5) of the 1999 Constitution).
The problem in this case is how to reconcile what the constitution says in 36(5) with the fact that most people in prison have actually not been found guilty of any offence. This alone should serve as basis for giving humane bail conditions. It simply does not make sense that persons who are “presumed innocent” are spending months and even years in prison because they cannot meet bail conditions.
A fundamental principle popular in many criminal justice systems around the world is this, “It is better that 10 guilty persons escape than one innocent person suffer.” It appears the reverse is the case in Nigeria. Therefore, this practice of stipulating harsh and unfair bail conditions that are often too difficult to meet by the accused person is not only unjustifiable under the law but inherently evil.
Lari-Williams, a lawyer, sent this piece from Lagos.
(Punch)
