*Urges govt to avoid jailbreaks, decongest prisons

Human rights lawyer, Edward Omaga, has warned that biased judicial officers pose potential threat to the 2023 general election.

He expressed concern over instances where politicians continue to engage in “illegal political forum shopping” to achieve their selfish ambitions.

Speaking at the unveiling of Graylaw Practice Limited Partnership, a legal consulting firm, at the weekend in Abuja, the legal practitioner said the indiscriminate granting of ex-parte orders, especially on political issues, and delivering conflicting judgments might erode credibility of the poll.

HE also called on governments to decongest correctional centres to prevent incessant jailbreaks across the country.

Omaga, who is Principal Partner at the new law firm, suggested the use of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) in settlement of conflicts to reduce the caseload for judges, who need adequate time to focus on serious cases.

Since October 2020, when hoodlums took advantage of the #EndSARS protests to attack three Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS) facilities in Edo and Ondo states, releasing over 2,000 inmates and killing about a dozen security agents manning the facilities, the country has continued to witness more prison breaks.

At least 2,051 inmates escaped after the October 2020 jailbreaks in both states. While some of the inmates voluntarily turned themselves in, others are still at large.

There have been at least 13 other jailbreaks since the October 2020 incident with at least six of them successful.

Omaga said: “Decongesting the prison is what we should be doing now. We believe that you solve a problem before it arrives by preventing it. For instance, for somebody who has spent five years awaiting trial for stealing bicycle, how do you reconcile that? And another politician is released from prison after three months, either because of no conviction, or no case to substantiate. These are because of plea bargain.

“The young man who is in prison for five years because he steals a bicycle is so angry that he could do anything, even in the prison. That is why you hear of jailbreak. But if a man goes into prison awaiting trial, and in the next three months, his case is decided, whether convicted or released to go free, there won’t be a need to worry.”

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