Human Rights Abuses in the Nigerian Prison System: a Case Study of Niger State Prison
CHAPTER ONE
OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
This research work seeks to achieve the following objectives:
- To ascertain the extent of prisoners rights abuses and its effects on their lives both in Minna and New Bussa prisons in Niger
- To determine the factors responsible for the abuses.
- To examine the measures that need to be taken to incisively and concisely address all problems of prisoners rights.
CHAPTER TWO
THE NIGERIAN PRISON SYSTEM
INTRODUCTION
The prison system is an integral part of the criminal justice system as a custodial as well as a correctional institution. It also serves as a fundamental instrument for the protection, scrutiny, maintenance of the rule of law and social order. Oxford dictionaries simply define prison as a building to which people are legally committed as a punishment for a crime or while awaiting trial. Implicit in the definition is the legality or lawfulness of prison. That is why globally, governments make provision for rehabilitation centre where those who violate the laws of the land will be kept for sometime or for life and given corrective measures to enable them become better citizens22. Though attention has been paid to issues relating to the administration of criminal justice system, the prison system is considered most important. This is because the prison system impacts on all aspects of the lives of the detainees and also defines the criminal justice system.
It is in view of the above that this chapter aims at discussing the evolution of modern prisons, structure of Nigerian Prison Service, their functions, types, and classification of offenders in Nigerian prisons. This is a necessary aspect to dive into given the subject matter of this research in particular.
EVOLUTION OF MODERN PRISONS
The origin of modern prisons services in Nigeria dates back to 1861 when Lagos was declared a colony. The progressive incursion of the colonial masters into the hinter land and the establishment of the British protectorate towards the end of the 19thcentury necessitated the establishment of prisons as the last link in the criminal justice system. Thus by‟ 1910, there were already prisons in Degema, Calabar, Onitsha, Benin, Ibadan, Sapele, Jebba and Lokoja23. The declaration protectorates over the East, West and North by 1906 effectively brought Nigeria under British rule. However, it did not mark the beginning of a unified Nigeria prisons.
Meanwhile, the colonial prison was not designed to reform anyone. There was no systematic penal policy from which directions could he brought for penal administration. Instead, prisoners were mainly used for public works and other jobs for the colonial administration. For this reasons, there was no need for the recruitment of trained officers of the prisons. Hence, colonial prisons had no trained and developed staff of their own and instead the police also performed prison duties24. As time went on, ex-service men were recruited to do the job.
The Nigeria-com-colonial prisons were very poorly run and the local prison conditions varied from one place to another in their disorganization, callousness and exploitation. But so long as they served the colonial interests of ensuring law and order, collecting taxes and providing labour for public works, they were left alone. The result was that the prison served the purpose of punishing those who were opposed to colonial administration while at the same time cowing those who might want to stir up trouble for the colonial set up.
CHAPTER THREE
AN OVERVIEW OF PRISONERS’ RIGHTS:
INTRODUCTION
The Issue of prisoners‟ rights has been a continuing one in the administration of criminal justice. This is because human rights abuses are some of the common features in Nigerian prisons and a serious challenge to the administration of criminal justice system. Therefore, it is imperative to examine the rights of prisoners as it is through this examination that the recurring abuses will be understood and practical solutions proffered. Simply put, if the rights are not known, the breach or violations of those rights cannot be ascertained. Thus this analysis is necessarily essential.
Therefore, the objective of this chapter is to discuss the nature and validity of prisoners‟ rights, international and local instruments providing for the rights of prisoners and the agencies for the protection of prisoners‟ rights
HUMAN RIGHTS LAW
The human rights of prisoners are in no way different from the right of other citizens. The reason is not farfetched. Citizens are human beings, and conviction or imprisonment does not divest a prisoner of certain rights. In fact, there are some specific rights available to prisoner to protect them from maltreatment emanating from the unlawful acts of prison officials and the law enforcement agencies.
The rights of prisoners are primarily geared towards enhancing their welfare. It therefore seeks to shield them from arbitrary treatment of prison officials whether convicted or held on holding charge deprivation of liberty does not mean deprivation of humanity for the prisoner. This point has been put more succinctly49.
Prisoners are subject to a special regime and have a special status. Nevertheless, they are not entirely denuded of all fundamental rights and liberties which are inherent in our Constitution. Thus, despite the deprivation of the general liberty a prisoner remains invested with residuary rights appertaining to the nature of his incarceration.
The realization of this aspiration must definitely give priority to the humanity and person of the prisoner as this is the basis and justification of the rights of prisoners. More so, the reason for guaranteeing the rights of prisoners is that over time, the concept of imprisonment has ceased from being solely a source of punishment, and hence an end in itself, to being regarded as a means to an end, that is reformation of the offender. Indeed, there was time when the prevailing belief was that criminal offenders having transgressed against the law had given up all claims to humanity and so deserved to be subject to such conditions of treatment that completely violate their rights as human beings50. However, this belief has changed significantly due to the humanitarian concern and effort towards the improvement of the situation of prisoners on humanitarian grounds.
Thus, their temporary prisoner status is now being de-emphasized and pride of place given to their status as human beings with a future after the prison term, hence, the need for reformation to equip them for a meaningful life after. This leads us to the different legal instruments available for the protection of prisoners‟ rights.
CHAPTER FOUR
HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES IN NIGER PRISONS
INTRODUCTION
Nigeria’s human rights record remains poor and government officials at all levels continue to commit serious abuses. Human rights in Nigeria are protected under the most current Constitution of 1999. Though Nigeria has made serious improvements in human rights under its Constitution, this work notes areas where significant improvement is needed with respect to Nigerian prisons.
This chapter examines data on Human Rights Abuses in Minna and New Bussa Prisons, with particular focus on the compliance of prison authorities to the United Nations minimum standard of the protection of prisoners‟ rights and other instruments.
A REVIEW OF MINNA PRISON
The colonialist established the prison system to punish the offenders. The prison was one of the agents of social control and principal organs of criminal justice system in Nigerian.196 Various laws were promulgated for the establishment and regulation of prison institutions. The Prison Ordinance No. 21 of 1916, provided that the (colonial) Governor of Nigeria may gazette and declare any building enclosure or place in any part of the territory if he so wish to be a prison. It thus followed from this enactment that such buildings chosen declared as such in Minna falls under the official definition of a prison in colonial Nigeria.
The present Minna prison was initially at Kuta town then the Gwari Native Authority Headquarters. Before then in Minna, there was a small house lock up which housed only prisoners to three months and below, for a sentence which is above three months the convicts were usually sent to Kuta where there was a standard native Authority Prison.198
The initial staff strength of the prison was nineteen (19) and this included the officer in-charge with one corporal. The remaining seventeen (17) staffs were all privates. The prison was modeled to admit rape, theft, etc. offenders in order to reduce tension and enforce security; a chief warder (popularly known as Dan-Kumi) served in the prison during the Native Authority era.
CHAPTER FIVE
SUMMARY, RECOMMENDATIONS AND CONCLUSION
INTRODUCTION
The importance of this research work cannot be over-emphasized based on the fact that human rights abuses in Nigerian prisons are becoming rampant, and a familiar feature of our prison system. It is now well accepted that inmates are entitled to some rights provided by law even though they are being deprived of their right to personal liberty.
This Chapter summarizes the entire research work, gives or states the findings which have been made and finally, proffers solutions by way of recommendations on how to address the issues and problems which have arisen as a result of the abuse of rights of inmates in Nigerian prisons with particular reference to Minna and New Bussa prisons in Niger State.
SUMMARY
This research work first examined the components of pioneer chapter, which are the introduction, statement of the problems, aims and objectives of the study, scope of the study, research methodology, justification, literature review and the organizational layout
It is confirmed that there is an ill-conceived notion that prison inmates have no rights. The acceptable approach is that their rights may be limited but they have a degree of human and civil rights that is guaranteed by the Constitution, by International Conventions and by the UN Declarations. For instance, the UN General Assembly adopted what it called the Basic Principles for the Treatment of Prisoners, on December, 14, 1990. Therefore, prisoners cannot and should not be subjected to cruel and unusual punishment; they are to have full access to due process and equal protection and should not be discriminated against.
Furthermore, prisoners are entitled to adequate medical and psychiatric care. And their physical safety must also be assured and all times. But is this the case in Nigeria, particularly in Niger State? What is going on and going wrong with the Nigerian prison system can be glared from many reports and especially from a recent report entitled, „Country Reports on Human Rights Practices‟222. This 55 – page US Department of State report “highlights the continued pursuit of free and equal dignity in human rights in every corner of the world. It draws attention to the growing challenges facing individuals and organizations as governments around the world fall short of their obligation to uphold universal human rights”. One of the countries the report looked at was Nigeria.
FINDINGS
The issue of the abuse of the right of prisoners and inmates in Nigerian prisons especially in Niger (Minna and Bussa) has been at the centre of discussion on the ongoing reform of the administration of criminal justice system. This is more so that the prison institution is a key component of the criminal justice system and its success determines the success of the criminal justice system. Thus, issues of the prisons, especially as they relate to right and welfare of inmates cannot but be given due attention if the purpose of the imprisonment is to be achieved. Traditionally, the concept of imprisonment used to be employed to punish offenders who have passed through the institution of the police and the courts. Thus, punishment used to be the main consideration for imprisonment.
However, there has been a shift in the approach to the treatment of inmates and prisoners. Prisoners and inmates are now accorded certain special rights that are necessary to achieve the essence of their incarceration. It is now clear that imprisonment does not necessarily deprive inmates and prisoners of some rights that they are entitled to by virtue of the fact that they are still human beings. Therefore in spite of conviction and imprisonment, prisoners that are only serving term of imprisonment are still entitled to certain rights such as the right to the dignity of human person, right to life etc. The conditions of the prisons in Niger State are quite poor going by their bedding, clothing etc and this goes to the issue of the abuse of the right of dignity of human person.
RECOMMENDATIONS
First, there is urgent need for a closer synergy among the key components of the criminal justice system of which the prison is an indispensable part. All stakeholders in different components must know that prisoners have certain rights to be respected for which is necessary for the realisation of the objective of the prison system
Secondly, there is need for enlightenment and education of the police officers, court officers and prison staff on the essence of imprisonment and the Nigerian prisons. If stakeholders are enlightened about the rights of prisoners, the prison will no longer be regarded as a means of punishment but a place to reform prisoners to become useful to the society.
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