An Atom Of Wealth For All, Proper Prison Decongestion and Discontinuance Of Oxygenated Or Dead Cases, My Goal - Peter Mrakpor, A.G Delta State.

 There was a presentation of an award in the recognition of justice delivery in Delta State by the executives and members of the Indigenous Newspapers and Magazines Chapel (INMC) of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Delta State Council  when they paid him a courtesy call in his office.

 No doubt when it comes to the Ministry of Justice in Delta State,

It would be recorded that the Commission is very efficient and effective in it's justice delivery, Lawyers and the public in general would testify of it's quick criminal justice delivery even more in the weeks to come as some thing really big is coming to town. There would no longer be room for unnecessary delays. And or frivolous charges. In his words, he said, “It is something that has never been done before in this country, the reforms we are proposing, we want to cut down trial time drastically, no state has ever done it but we believe it will work and we are running with it and the state house of assembly is with us, everybody is with us”, disclosing that very soon, the ministry would go into proper prison decongestion and pick up all case files for the ministry’s lawyers to justify why the ministry should continue or discontinue with such cases.

“We discover that there are some cases in court that are dead. The lawyer is just going to court to give oxygen by appearing. There are some, witnesses can never be found, there are some IPO dead, accused persons have jumped bail and that they are just showing up in court. Three years, four years nothing is happening. In my opinion, that case should terminate, it shouldn’t continue. We don’t waste money on things that are not necessary, if you can’t secure conviction, why are you going to court? He asked.

He said the ministry embarked on the review of all case files following the event of influential persons that have in time past sent people to prisons, “we have done Asaba, Ogwashi-Uku, Issele-Uku, Akuku-Igbo and so we are moving on. We are looking at every case file. It is tedious but we will do it. 

He added that the scrutininy is in place to ensure that those in prison ought to be in prison. If they have no business in prison, we move them out. Then to enhance prosecution”, noting that the ministry has also given out a lot of fiats to private lawyers to take over prosecution from the police, in some cases to avoid the alleged outcry of compromise of cases by the police, “I have given out about 50 or 100 now”.

The chairman of the chapel, Comrade Spence Friday Idighri said the visit to the Commissioner was birth due to his resounding achievements in a recessed economy while noting that there are rooms for improvement.

“It is only proper that we do this not only to encourage a performing commissioner to do more but to also wake up those who are in perpetual slumber since their appointment almost two years ago”.

Source: thenigeriavoice, private research from the masses.