Niger Chief Judge Chides Police Over Incarceration of Inmates
Chief judge of Niger State, Justice Halima Ibrahim Abdulmalik, has called on the police to partner with the office of Director Public Prosecution (DPP) for speedy administration of justice in the state.
The CJ who was speaking during a tour of Minna old custodial centre expressed dissatisfaction over the handling of awaiting trials by the police.
She chided the police for always hiding under ongoing investigations to deliberately keep suspects in custodial centres.
“This is a deliberate act to incarcerate these inmates you keep on giving the same excuses of case files that are yet to be duplicated, you keep on repeating the investigation is ongoing for how long will you complete the investigation “ she asked rhetorically while visibly showing her dissatisfaction.
She charged the investigating police officers to expedite the process of investigation and transfer the case file of suspects to the Ministry of Justice for legal advice.
Justice Halima said that it is not fair to continue to unjustly incarcerate people under the pretense of ongoing investigation and therefore directed the director of public prosecution, Barrister Mohammed Baba Aliyu to expedite action in duplicating case files for speedy administration of justice.
The chief judge is on tour of all the prisons in the state and it was observed that some inmates have been awaiting trial for as long as five years and she was irked by the development.
