A civic group, Eagle Brain Youth Transformative and Development Initiative, EBYTDI, has alleged that injustice persists in Kaduna State with hundreds of detainees including one Emmanuel Musa, who has remained imprisoned for years without trial, because the state Correctional Centres lacks the logistics to transport them to court.
A statement issued by its Executive Director, Daniel Ejembi, stated that Musa, a resident of Ungwan Gajere, Maraban Rido, in Kaduna State, was arrested in 2018 after he prevented a suspected bandit from being lynched in his home, insisting the suspect be handed over to security agencies.
He explained, “Instead of being commended for upholding the law, he was detained and for six years, the Kaduna Correctional Service has failed in their responsibility.
“His case is not isolated. Many detainees in Kaduna prisons have never seen a courtroom, not because their cases are delayed, but because the correctional centres lack vehicles, fuel, and security personnel to transport inmates to court.”;;
Ejembi lamented the human cost of institutional failure, stressing the destruction of innocent lives, such as Emmanuel, who has spent six years in prison without conviction or trial, thereby suffering severe psychological trauma.
He further explained that the family has been broken, his dependents, who relied on him for survival, now struggle in poverty, saying, “justice system is mocked when detainees cannot even appear in court, the legal process collapses into a cruel farce.”;;
The Kaduna State Ministry of Justice, Nigerian Correctional Service, and Judiciary, according to him, must answer why are there are no functional vehicles to transport detainees, why has the government failed to allocate funds for inmate logistics and who will be held accountable for these unconstitutional delays?
The group demanded for immediate intervention from Kaduna State Governor, Senator Uba Sani, Controller of Corrections, Kaduna State Command, Chief Judge of Kaduna State and the Nigerian Human Rights Commission to fix the broken system.
He stressed the need to provide operational vehicles and security for inmate transportation, prioritize cases of those detained without trial and hold officials accountable for negligence.
