PPDC under access to justice project (RPDN II) moves to reduce pre -trial detention in Adamawa
In its quest to ensure substantial reduction of pre-trial detention in Adamawa State, the Reforming Pre-trial Detention in Nigeria Project (RPDN II) team has paid a visit to the Yolde Pate correctional center on Thursday for an on the spot assessment of the situation of pre-trial detention at the center.
State Program Officer, Access to Justice Public Private Development Center (PPDC) in Adamawa, Fatima Bello Raji who led the team noted that the purpose of the visit is to access the situation of pre-trial detention at the center in order to provide pro bono legal services for inmates who do not have legal representation.
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Findings by this paper indicated that the Yolde Pate correctional center currently has 818 inmates and over 615 of them do not have legal representation.
The main goal of the RPDN II, which is a three year project being implemented in Adamawa, Nasarawa, Kaduna, Lagos, Plateau and FCT with support from the United States Department of State Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL), is to ensure substantial reduction in the number of detainee populations in correction facilities and establish a more just and humane pre-trial detention system in Nigeria by ensuring improved access to legal representation and improved capacity in Nigeria’s corrections and judicial sectors.
Speaking further, Raji noted that the increasing number of pre-trial detainees in Nigeria’s detention centers is a continuously growing human rights concern noting that the failure of respective pre-trial detention reform initiatives carried out over the years to ensure the reduction of the scourge informed the formation of the RPDN II project.
She noted that Public and Private Development Centre (PPDC) is a citizen sector organization established in 2003 with the desire to have a more transparent and accountable government as well as citizens empowered to actively participate in governance processes.
“This includes but is not limited to Access to Justice and Human Rights Initiatives. Our programs and activities are formulated in a manner intended to drive institutional and behavioural change,” she said.
She noted that one of the core objectives of the PPDC Access to Justice initiatives is to strengthen the capacity, system and processes of stakeholders/actors in the administration of criminal justice system in various ways including in the efficient and swift handling of pre-trial cases in order to dispense justice to all, uphold the rule of law, and build public confidence in the country’s justice process while addressing inefficiencies that create delays in the dispensation of criminal justice.
Raji added that being a critical stakeholder in the administration of criminal justice system in Nigeria, the visit to the correctional center is imperative to the attainment of the noble goals of the project.
She added that such interface will enable her team to have access to correctional facilities for project-related activities which include introduction of the pro bono lawyers that will be working on the project and subsequently the law clinicians.
“We wish to identify the list of the inmates without legal representation so that the pro bono lawyers will take up the case with respect to the project mandate.
“Your partnership is vital to the success of the RPDN II Projects, and we are committed to working closely with the Nigerian Correctional Service to achieve our shared goals of improving the justice sector in Nigeria. We look forward to your positive response and continued collaboration,” she said.
Responding, the Comptoller, Nigerian Correctional Service Adamawa State, Ahmad Abdul Usman expressed delight over the intervention of PPDC and appreciated its support to the Correctional Information and Management System (CIMS) which trained three ICT staff and welfare officers of the NCoS in Abuja last month.
He noted that the training has empowered the NCoS to meticulously keep records of awaiting trial inmates and identify them whenever the need arise in order to be linked with pro bono lawyers, adding that the records will enable the Justice sector actors to work seamlessly in a cooperative and coordinated manner.
He added that such collaboration will go a long way in supporting the decongestion of the centers in the nearest foreseeable future.
