The Prisoners Rehabilitation and Welfare action, PRAWA says it is partnering with the Open Society Initiative For West Africa, OSIWA to end the criminalization of petty offences in Nigeria.
Head, Enugu Office of PRAWA, Chioma Anuna, made this known, Thursday in Enugu during a media briefing on the “Decriminalization and Declassification of petty offences Project”.
According to Anuna, the inability to afford bail condition has landed many Nigerians who only committed petty offences in prison, a development which has further helped to congest the prisons today.
She however noted that part of the provisions of the new Correctional Act of 2019 is the robust provisions to ensure that the current high number of awaiting trial persons is regulated.
She explained that the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights, ACHPR in 14.2 of its principles on decriminalization of petty offences in Africa has called on states to provide alternatives to custodial sentencing for petty offences which have not been removed from the statute books.
She noted that such alternatives recommended by the ACHPR include making use of community services, community based treatment programmes and alternative dispute resolution mechanisms such as mediation and the declaration of certain offences as non-arrest able.
“One of the key advocacy points under the decriminalization and declassification of Petty offences project in Nigeria is the use of non-custodial sanctions in place of imprisonment” she said.
She maintained that a good proportion of petty offences committed are tied to economic activities and as such, offenders who are kept in custody keep loosing potential earnings each day they spend in confinement.
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She noted that the media play an important role in terms of helping to educate members of the public on the existence of principles on the declassification of petty offences.
The project, which is part of efforts made to transform the criminal justice system in Nigeria and deal with the long standing challenge of delay in the dispensation of justice sponsored by OSIWA and implemented by PRAWA.
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