Lagos Lawyer Decries the Sorry State Of Nigerian Prisons

 

Odo, who stated this in Lagos during an interview, said it seemed that the whole essence of imprisonment is to serve as a corrective measure and to serve as a deterrence to others who may wish to tow the line of criminality.

He, however noted that the aim is defeated as, according to him, prisoners are further schooled on the acts of criminality by their fellow inmates who are more experienced in the art.

He further posited that the campaign against prison congestion is just a scratch on the surface going by his experience on his previous visits to prisons in Nigeria.

He explained that from what he observed, over 80 percent of those on Awaiting Trial in Nigeria prisons are innocent and some of them are dumped there due to the product of bazaar judgment by the court.

Odo, who doubles as the principal partner of Odo Chambers and the Director General, Human Rights Global Awareness Campaigns said what seemed to be going on in the judiciary can be described as ‘bazaar judgment’ where it alleged some lawyers offer bribe to obtain judgment.

He said he had heard about it and it appears to be true.

He then advised that the issue has to be seriously tackled because it was one of those allegations that have soiled the image of the judiciary.

He said the fight for corruption has to be deepened and more inclusive and not selective and skewed whether the suspect belongs to the ruling party or other political parties otherwise it will kill Nigeria.

On the issue of Nigeria disintegration, Odo said he does not see any break up of Nigeria because it will not be in the interest of anybody or ethnic group.

He said the agitation by some groups like IPOB, Niger Militants and others are product of marginalization in the past which the government need to address.

“What those agitators need are to bring them closer, give them sense of belonging and all the issue of break away will seize and we will become a united Nigeria,”Odo said.

On the economy, Odo said the present administration, no doubt, inherited bad economy as a result of the mistake of the past.

However, he noted that the present situation has exposed them to Nigerians that they have no economic plans before they came into power as a political party.

He said many people are suffering, companies are closing down and prices of goods and services are terribly on the increase and the government seemed to have no solution to tackle it and yet they are giving Nigerians false hope.

He advised that the government should go back to the drawing board and prepare economic plans that will be for the improvement of standard of living of average Nigerians.