Shuaibu Labaran Magaji, Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice of Nasarawa State

Nkrumah Bankong-Obi/Lafia

The Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice of Nasarawa State, Shuaibu Labaran Magaji says he aims to check the prison congestion challenge by fastracking justice dispensation in the State. Magaji who assumed office recently, said accused persons have sacred rights just as free people therefore, to ensure that rights are protected and prisons are kept at the right holding capacities, he is striving to cut back on litigation time.

“I want to assure you, I have some cases I want to experiment with. And I am going to partner with the courts, to see, for the first time, to see how we can justifiably, without hindrance and undermining the rights of the accused persons, we can conclude a criminal case within four weeks.

Mr. Magaji who spoke while receiving members of the Correspondents Chapel who called on him in his office in Lafia on Tuesday, laid the blame for prison congestion on the doorsteps of the citizens who run foul of the law and workers in the justice sector who do not take their responsibilities seriously. He noted that there is a need to evaluate cases carefully before deciding the right direction because “there are offences that people should be given alternative punishment rather than being detained in prison facilities because of certain emotions and sentiments, either from the prosecution or from the judge. This is extremely unacceptable.”

In pursuit of this objective, he told the reporters that he has, upon assumption of office, visited key organisations responsible for the management of the criminal justice dispensation in the State, to ensure that they function on the same page, in line to keep the prisons light and the rights of the citizens guaranteed. He said journalists are a vital part of the justice administration chain, therefore called members of the Chapel to support him and the administration of Governor Abdullahi Sule, who he said is committed to following the rule of law.

A known Federal prosecutor, Magaji promised to bring his experience in handling high-profile cases to bear on his new role as the chief legal officer of Nasarawa State. “There are offences where you exercise prosecutorial discretion on whether you spend the public’s funds in prosecuting those cases or not. For example, if you go to the prisons, you will find people there who were involved in civil misunderstanding among themselves there because somebody somewhere is more powerful.” To this end, he advanced that certain offences should be punished alternatively without recourse to jail.

Earlier in his speech, Isaac Ukpoju, Chairman of the Correspondents Chapel in Nasarawa State congratulated the Attorney General on his appointment and promised the cooperation of his union towards achieving the set goals.

Ukpoju called on the AG to tap into the resources available to the office of the attorney general and decrease the number of inmates in prisons in the State. “The governor has the right, the prerogative of mercy to pardon inmates. Being the chief law officer of the State, you can facilitate that. If that is done, decongesting the prisons will go a long way. He pledged the support of the Chapel to deliver on policy, projects and programmes geared towards improving the justice sector in the State.