The Nigerian Prisons Service (NPS) has said the strike by judicial workers in the country, which is in its third week, is affecting about 42,000 inmates whose cases have been stalled across the nation since the industrial action started.
Prison Public Relations Officer, Mr. Ope Fatinikun, told our correspondent in an interview in Abuja yesterday that there were about 56,000 inmates currently locked up in the Nigerian prison among whom about 75 per cent of them were awaiting trial.
He said, “It is really affecting us. We have not been able to go to court. Our inmates are eager to go to court but we cannot take them there because of the strike.
“Don’t forget that about 75 per cent of our inmates are awaiting trial. These inmates need to go to court for their cases to be heard. Don’t forget that some of the inmates have been remanded in prison for many years and their cases are still pending in the court. If this is the only impact it has on us, it is a significant impact.”
Strike embarked on by judicial workers under the aegis of the Judicial Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN) has paralysed activities in various courts across the country since it started on July 11.
According to Fatinikun, in Lagos State alone, the strike had stalled cases of the awaiting trial inmates in about 200 courts, where the prison authorities take prisoners to everyday.
“You know what it means to have 75 per cent of your inmates awaiting trial and need to be taking to court? For example, in Lagos, we take inmates to almost 200 courts per day. Now we cannot do so because of the strike,” he said.
The judicial workers had embarked on the strike due to the alleged failure of the various state governments in the country to comply with the order of a Federal High Court in Abuja, on the funding of the states judiciary.
Justice Adeniyi Ademola of the Federal High Court in Abuja had in the said judgment delivered on January 13, 2014, ordered that the funds meant for the states’ judiciary be deducted directly from the Consolidated Revenue Fund and paid to the National Judicial Council as provided for in the constitution.
Fatinikun called for a quick resolution of the strike in order to restore hope in the inmates awaiting trial across the country.
He said, “We are appealing for the quick resolution of this issue because the quicker the issue is resolved the better for us. The more the inmates go to court, the better hope the inmates have and the better for the prisons too.”