Challenges of Crime Management

Imprisonment and Death Penalty as Effective Tools in Crime Management – Being an Address by His Excellency, Alhaji (Dr.) Abdullahi Adamu (Sarkin Yakin Keffi), Executive Governor of Nasarawa State, Delivered to Members of the National Assembly, Wednesday, August 11, 2004.

INTRODUCTION:

In almost all societies, the terms Imprisonment and Death penalty are unpleasant to the hearing of people. However, their existence as tools of punishment and correction dates back to prehistoric times. Indeed, almost all Holy Scriptures record instances when people were either imprisoned or sentenced to death for crimes or conduct considered inimical to social harmony. In the Bible and Koran, for example, it was recorded that prophet Joseph was a prisoner of conscious who was reportedly accused of impropriety by his master’s wife and consequently sent to jail.

Imprisonment is the process where the freedom of an offender is taken away for a specified period of time. It is meant to be reformatory and correctional, rather than punitive. In most cases, the offender is confined to an environment (prison, reform center or city) for proper mentoring. The death penalty on the other hand is imposed on a person who has committed a crime that involves the loss of life. It probably may have emanated from the scriptural injunction of an "eye for an eye". That is to say, if you take a life in circumstances that are offensive to the defining society, then you have to lose yours.

The earlier philosophy on punishment for offenders focused on inflicting vengeance and atonement through the incarceration of offenders. Prominent among these philosophies are the 17^th century Amsterdam penitentiary law in Europe; the 19^th century models in North America on penal execution and debate on appropriate system; and the later adoption of the United Nations minimum standards for the treatment of prisoners.

The evolution of imprisonment and death penalty in Nigeria started in pre-colonial times when the traditional and royal fathers had judicial authority. The royalty, apart from been administrators of culture at that time, were also responsible for the maintenance of law and order. Of course it is expected that the maintenance of law and order will involve the administration of the penal system.

Formal entry into the administration of the penal system by government commenced with the establishment of the Bauchi Prison in 1821 under the native authority ordinance of Northern Nigeria. However, the first modern prison in Nigeria was opened on Broad Street, Lagos in 1916. Since the establishment of this prison, the need for prison reform has led to the establishment of various commissions, enactments and reorganizations in the years 1923, 1932, 1955, 1966, 1968, 1971, 1986, 1992 and 2001.

CRIME MANAGEMENT

The essence of the prison system is to control societal crime and reduce the amount of criminal tendencies in the populace. It is generally assumed that those who commit offences against individuals or the state should be penalized so that law and order can be maintained. Without the system of penalties, criminals are likely to disrupt the normal conduct of private and official business. In Nigeria, crime management is vested on the justice administrative organs namely, Prisons, Police and the Courts.

The Police service is empowered by law to enforce the provision of law and order as well as to apprehend suspects. It is the responsibility of the police to affect arrest and investigate suspects for possible prosecution by way of providing the First Information Report (F.I.R) to the courts through the office of Director of Public Prosecution (DPP).

The Courts under the State and Federal judiciaries provide the enabling conditions for the trial of suspects who on conviction are finally referred to the prison for terms of imprisonment or corrective measures as the case may be.

As earlier stated the enforcement of imprisonment and death penalty is institutionalized through the prison system which serves the dual purpose of punishment and correction.

By the stature of establishment, the Nigerian Prison Service is charged with the responsibility of:

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2. Safe custody of offenders and all inmates

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4. Identifying the causes of anti-social behaviour among inmates towards eventual reformation, rehabilitation and re-integration in society as law abiding citizens

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6. Revenue generation from prison farms and workshops

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Prisons are classified in the second schedule, section 7 of the 1999 constitution into eight (8) categories thus:

The important argument in this lecture is to determine if the prison system has been able to bring the desired effects into the crime management process. In essence, the question can be asked – are imprisonment and death penalty necessary ingredients for a crime free society? For us to answer this question, we must take a look at the reform system in the prisons and locate appropriate practices and problems towards reformation, rehabilitation and reintegration.

A prison, as we have said earlier, is not solely meant for punishment. It is meant to reform people of dishonorable conduct. To do this effectively, the prison must provide opportunities for deep reflection and spiritual meditation when the prison term is being served. Information available to us however calls to question the ability of our prison system to deliver on this function. We know that our prisons are congested and provide little opportunities for reform. Over congestion in our prisons has led to recent riots at the Enugu and Lagos prisons. In addition to this, our prison system does not differentiate between those who are on remand and those who are actual prisoners. The prison authorities recently released statistics to show that of the 40,447 inmates in our prison system, 25,380 (62.7%) are those classified as awaiting trial, while 15,067 (37.3%) are those who are convicts. This proportion means that the prison authorities are forced to give more attention to the needs of the awaiting trial persons (who are not qualified for reform) than to the 37.3% who are qualified by stature for reform. The reform process of prisons is therefore seriously hampered by both over-population and the lack of attention for those who are qualified for reform.

Another function of the prisons is the rehabilitation of offenders. Here the assumption is that the prison system will provide opportunities for the inmates/convicts to learn a particular trade or profession so that on release, they can be productive. Unfortunately, this responsibility of the prison authorities is also hampered by the lack of facilities for reform and rehabilitation. The workshops are dilapidated and modern tools of craft are lacking. Most inmates of prisons therefore get released without any skill to practices. This has caused some of the prisoners to relapse to crime after serving their sentences.

On the issue of reintegration, this is a general societal problem. On the one hand, most people in our societies view the prisons as places meant for criminals. Convicts who are released from these prisons therefore find it difficult to be integrated into their communities. They are sometimes considered as outcasts who must not be associated with. In spite of government efforts at rehabilitating released offenders, certain rules in our statutes still make it difficult for these people to be gainfully employed in public service. Except these rules are changed, it may be difficult for public perception of ex-prisoners to change. In addition, due to the prevalence of communicable diseases among prisoners, most of them leave prison with diseases such as Tuberculosis, Scabies, HIV/AIDS, etc. These diseases also make reintegration very difficult while stigmatization may result.

Due to replete problems and challenges in the prison system, it is difficult to conclude that the prison system has assisted in the control or management of crime in Nigeria. Much reform is desired in the system and it is in this light that we proffer the following suggestions for the reform of the prison system in Nigeria.

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2. A Penal Trust Fund should be established to fund the Prison Service through a contributory system by all government and non-governmental organizations.

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4. The Prison Service should be made autonomous by stature and charged with a clear mandate of reformation and rehabilitation

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6. All on-going projects of maximum and medium security prisons started in 1980 should be completed and equipped for effective modern panel reformatory functions.

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8. Establishment of detention centers to curb the ever-increasing flow of Awaiting Trial Persons (ATP’s) into the prison thereby affecting effective reformatory mechanisms.

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10. To effectively manage crime, there is the need for the creation of a criminal databank for the collection, collation, analysis and documentation of crime and criminals around the country.

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12. Alternative methods of crime management other than imprisonment needs to be instituted through the application of parole concept, rewards for good behaviour and "out of court" arbitration/settlements.

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In conclusion, we suggest that the way forward is to strengthen the networking capacities of all security agencies at the federal, state and local governments to make them more proactive and security conscious. Information exchange is a necessary ingredient of crime management and prevention. This overall national security management structure rather than enforcing imprisonment and death penalty is desired for the reduction and control of crime in the country.

Thank you.