| Era of illegal detension
in Osun gone – Attorney General
From GABRIEL DIKE and NGOZI UWUJARE, Osogbo
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
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Barr. Owolade
Photo: SunNews Publishing
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The Osun State Commissioner for Justice and Attorney General,
Barrister Niyi Owolade, has revealed that as part of his reform
agenda, case file for prosecution will not stay longer than
30 days in the Ministry of Justice. He told Daily
Sun that the era of wrongful detention of persons
was gone, his quest for a stakeholders’ forum to iron
out issues affecting the justice delivery system of the state
and how his ministry secured the release of a victim who was
wrongfully detained for seven years.
Wrongful detention of persons
I feel very strongly about a system that allows people to
be wrongfully detained. We have to stop it, it is unacceptable,
under no conditions should we make such mistakes. This is
part of the things I have set as my agenda in 2008 to call
a stakeholders meeting from time to time for us to sensitize
all those involved in the justice system to the important
role we all have to play and to make sure that the type of
thing that happened to Mr. Tajudeen Atanda, must never be
allowed to happen again.
The man was detained maliciously for seven years, if all the
stakeholders had been meeting on the criminal justice system,
I am sure this would not have happened. For example, a situation
where an accused person is brought to court without commencement
of trial for so long, I think the magistrate should have asked
questions and queried the police. A situation where the police
will keep a case file, such as in Mr. Atanda’s case
is unacceptable. I had to write to the police to call for
his file before it surfaced.
That was why it didn’t take me long. At the next adjournment
date of the case, I entered a nolle prosequi to secure his
immediate release from custody. A nolle prosequi is an exercise
of the powers conferred on me by virtue of Section 21 of the
1999 Constitution which I know must be exercised in the interest
of the public and the interest of justice. We must not allow
anybody, irrespective of the race, social standing, party
affiliation, and religion background to be detained unjustly
and maliciously again. It is one of those areas that I intend
to seriously look into. I have asked my people to go into
prisons in Osun State to look into such matters. There are
few of them we are looking into and once we ascertain the
veracity of the issues involved, I will not hesitate to do
justice to such a case.
Decongesting prisons
The issue of the decongesting prisons is not peculiar to Osun
State, it is a federal matter. However, as stakeholders, we
still have a meeting point and that is why I said one of my
agenda in 2008 is to continuously dialogue with stakeholders
in the criminal justice system to find solutions to matters
affecting the justice system and the prisons.
Prerogative of mercy
You know I was sworn in as the Attorney General and Commissioner
for Justice a few months back. Governor Olagunsoye Oyinlola
approved our nominees for the board of prerogative of mercy
recently and they will be sworn in soon. They will go to work
straight away.
Delay of DPP reports on criminal files
I think it is important that I state here that I have made
a pledge, that all files coming to the Ministry of Justice
will take 30 days. So far, we have been able to keep to that.
However, we know that those who are investigating may take
longer time and this is why during my visit to the commissioner
of police, we made this issue known to him, that we will appreciate
where police expedite investigations. But of course, we are
aware of the fact that the cases are not the same, there are
some complex cases which may take longer than others. We expect
that the simple cases can easily be disposed of in relatively
short period and so we are hoping that the police will investigate
matters faster than they do . I am happy to state that the
ministry of justice has been able to keep to that time frame
of 30 days of files coming to the ministry.
Esa Oke alleged robbery incident
We are still waiting the case file from the police. The police,
which is the body statutorily empowered to investigate, will
have to complete their investigations before we can do anything.
One thing that I can assure you is that once the case file
gets to us, it will be dealt with within 30 days, but as of
today, the case file is not in my ministry.
Bomb blast suspect
The bomb blast case is a very sensitive matter. As you are
aware, it was the first time we experienced this in Osun State.
We have so far only one accused person, that is the person
who was with the deceased that was killed during the blast.
The accused person has been charged to court and the prosecution
started January 23.
Legacy to leave behind
The legacy that I will like to leave behind will be that of
someone who came to uplift the ministry of justice, the entire
justice system of the state to greater height. I will want
to leave a legacy of confidence and trust by the good people
of Osun State in the justice delivery system. I will like
to see a situation where the average man in the street will
believe that everybody is equal before the law. A situation
that the average man will say that it is truth, that be you
high, the law is above you. I will like to leave a footprint
of confidence and trust on our justice system.
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