The Federal House of Representatives on Thursday mandated its Committee on Justice to investigate the undue delay in the trial of more than 197 suspects detained by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) for alleged drug trafficking and other related offences.
The committee was told to establish the statistics of all prison inmates prosecuted and convicted by the agency and report to the House.
Leading the debate on the matter, Hon. Hassan Saleh observed that over 197 persons were incarcerated in various prisons in the country for many years without trial. He recalled that the agency, in the course of discharging its responsibilities, had prosecuted some suspected drug traffickers in court and some of them were to serve various jail terms.
Quoting from the report of Justice Gilbert Obayan’s Presidential Committee of 1996, Saleh noted that of the 143 drug suspects convicted in 2006, 96 were never taken to prison while another set of 101 inmates were also hauled into prison without trial by the agency.
He further revealed that persons, who were alleged to have been lawfully prosecuted by the NDLEA and convicted by a court of law, had since been unlawfully released from prison, thereby undermining the nation’s criminal justice system.
The lawmaker also expressed serious concerns that the ministry of justice’s failure, neglect and refusal to implement the findings of Justice Gilbert Obayan’s report on the serious infraction in the country’s criminal justice system.
He then urged the House to investigate the matter in order to find a solution to the awaiting-trial status of the prison inmates.
