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| Chief Judge of Lagos State, Justice Ayotunde Philipsption |
Lagos
State Chief Judge, Justice Ayotunde Philips, has warned the magistrate
of the Special Offences Court sitting in Alausa, Mrs. Jadeola Adeyemi,
who sentenced 162 persons arrested for minor offences to prison.
The PUNCH Newspaper, in its June 17, 2013
report, observed that the alleged offenders were imprisoned without
having any legal representation and adequate time to prepare for their
defence. Philips warned Adeyemi to desist from
sentencing the offenders to prison, adding that such “convicts” should
have been committed to community service with or without imposition of
fine.
The Deputy Registrar of the state’s
judiciary, (Special Duties, Ikeja), Mrs. O. Okunuga, stated this in a
letter responding to a petition by a non-governmental organisation,
Prisoners’ Rights Advocacy Initiative. “On the allegations of remanding such
convicts in prison alongside hardened criminals, the magistrate has been
warned to desist from sending such convicts to jail terms and should
adopt imposition of fines and/or committal to community service,”
Okunuga stated.
The PRAI, through its director, Mr.
Ahmed Adetola-Kazeem, in its petition dated June 7, 2013, alleged that
among the 162 inmates were under 18 children, who ought not to be sent
to prison for any offence. The organisation also urged the
authorities, including the Chief Judge, to investigate the circumstances
under which Adeyemi had imprisoned the alleged offenders. Okunuga said upon interrogating Adeyemi, it was found out that “it is not correct that the convict are under ages”. “Rather, their ages range between 18 and 50 years as per the records of the court,” she said. Okunuga added that there was a human
rights unit within the premises of the Special Offences Court, which
“gives free legal services to indigent suspects accused of such minor
offences.”
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