Police Adopt ADR To Address Civil Matters

In the face of simmer
ing judiciary crisis in Rivers State, police in the state are adopting Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) to resolve civil matters that come to the police stations.
A police officer, who identified himself as Sergeant John stated this while speaking with The Tide in Port Harcourt at the weekend said the closure of the courts in the state was robbing off on all the sectors of the economy.
He noted that the volume of criminal and civil matters that attend the police stations on a daily basis were much more than the stations could cope with.
Sgt. John said that many criminal matters were awaiting the re-opening of courts in the state.
According to him, “when the courts re-open someday they are bound to face a glut of cases. Most of the matters that will come up more readily in courts will be bail applications. Accused person are hoping in ernest to regain their freedoms as soon the courts open again. When a system is not working every body is affected.
The law enforcement agent called on business men to seek their solutions at ADR centres instead of cramming the police stations with commercial transaction.
He said the police do not have anything to do with commercial transactions but in keeping with the maintenance of peace they have made available ADR centres to attend to purely civil matters.
Sgt John called on the striking Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria to resume work to stem the decay in the state judiciary.
He said JUSUN must understand that accused persons are dying in prison custodies around the state while some of them were innocent of the crimes for which they were accused.
He also called on businessmen to explore the alternative provided by ADR.

Chidi Enyie