A non-governmental organization, PRAWA has called for the speeding up of criminal justice in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
The organization made the call in Abuja at a one-day sensitization workshop organized for stakeholders in the judiciary and media.
Addressing journalists at the end of the event, Mr. Yinka Lawal, Deputy Director of PRAWA said: “The objectives of the intervention are to identify root causes of delays in the criminal system and support the development and implementation of selected ‘coordinated’ solutions.
The Department For International Development (DFID)-funded Nigeria Justice for All is working in with a range of state actors such as the police, ministry of justice as well as other investigative and prosecutorial agencies and non-state actors like civil society organizations and professional bodies to achieve its set goals, Mr. Lawal said.
He further explained that the project is geared towards sensitizing the citizenry on the need to testify in court as witnesses in order to speed up criminal justice in the country. “The importance of protecting witnesses’ identities and addresses is one of the series of interventions to speedy criminal prosecution in the FCT”.
In a goodwill message at the workshop, Hon Justice Abimbola Bamijoko of the FCT High Court said that the attendance of witnesses in court is one of the greatest challenges to successful criminal prosecution in the country.
“Enhancing the attendance of witnesses in court is quite essential. The witness protection concept is weak in Nigeria. Lives of witnesses are in danger following the backlash that might come from the defence team in a particular suit”.
She called for the proper briefing of witnesses before testifying in court in order to ease prosecution.
A participant from the Operations Department of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mr. Bello Yahaya said: “We are faced with the challenge of investigation. Witnesses change phone numbers and addresses. This problem is compounded by the threat from accused persons”.
He noted that the difficulty in getting witnesses to testify in court is enormous due to inadequate fund, especially in the bringing in of foreign witnesses.
Another participant from National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), Mr. John Dashe, equally identified the challenges that come with producing witnesses in court. “Witnesses are transferred or retired and you are expected to come to court with them without being paid”, Mr. Dashe lamented.
