Killers Should Be Killed

[bamalli]

Killers Should Be Killed          
Written by LEADERSHIP   
Sunday, 11 July 2010 20:14

Recently, the 36 state governors agreed to sign the warrants of execution for 870 condemned persons as a way of decongesting the prisons all over the country. This decision has drawn the ire of a group known as the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP). On June 23, 2010, SERAP though its solicitor, Mr. Femi Falana, approached the Banjul-based African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights, an arm of the African Union, asking for a stay of execution of the order by the governors. Consequently, the commission granted SERAP's requests and asked the federal government to maintain moratorium on execution of death penalty and move towards its abolition.

SERAP may have a point here. The number of condemned prisoners awaiting execution is insignificant when compared to the huge population of inmates in the Nigerian prisons. So, getting rid of a few of them will not ease the pressure on the overcrowded jail houses. Several factors are responsible for this sorry state of affairs, but chief among them is frequent adjournment of cases owing to endless investigations by prosecuting police officers most of whom are ill-trained or badly equipped for their assignments. There are also problems of inadequate court houses, shortage of personnel at the bench, frequent strikes by judicial staff, and recording of court proceedings in long hand. One direct consequence of these constraints is overcrowded prisons where, as we once stated in this space, most of the inmates are those awaiting trials. And because of the delay in administering justice, most of them end up spending more years in prison custody than the terms they would have served if convicted. The snail's pace that attends court proceedings has led to bloody riots in some prisons across the country. Such riots are usually spearheaded  by inmates who have spent years behind bars without being convicted of the offences for which they are being remanded.

Government needs to address these constraints and challenges facing the administration of justice as a way of decongesting the prisons. This can be achieved through routine visits to the various prisons by the chief justices of various states with a view to looking into cases that have overstayed in the courts. It is equally necessary to set up mobile courts to try minor offences. Suspended sentences and granting of parole are also options judges can consider in the administration of justice.

Nevertheless, we are of the view that condemned criminals should face the full wrath of the law. The Nigerian criminal justice system is very clear about the punishment to be meted out to those who take the lives of fellow citizens. Those who live by the sword should die by the sword. Executing them should not be tied to prison decongestion.