Malami Reacts To EU Revelation That Over 600 Children Are Detained In 12 States

While inaugurating the Justice for Children Coordination Forum on Thursday, the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, SAN, said the federal government was reviewing laws and policies for a friendly justice system for Nigerian children and child offenders.

The AGF was reacting to a revelation by the European Union that its survey showed that over 600 children were in detention in prison in twelve states of the federation.

In a statement by his Spokesperson, Dr. Umar Jibrilu Gwandu, the AGF inaugurated the forum in Abuja amid the launch of the European Union-UNICEF Access to Justice Programme for Children on the Move and other Vulnerable Children.

The EU noted that the forum was timely because in certain countries, the issue of arbitrary detention of juveniles was becoming a norm.

It added that such contradicts the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Nigeria’s Child Rights Act.

In a draft paper, the EU stated that affected children are negatively imparted by the harmful development.

“Yet, despite the lack of data on this topic in Nigeria, there is evidence that detention of children is commonly used as first resort in recent times and for very minor offences such as hawking, trespass, attempted stealing, stealing and wandering among others. In some instances, these children are kept in these locked facilities without resort to any judicial orders thus negating the notion that human rights are children’s rights as well.

“In 2019, the United Nations global study on children deprived of liberty, sets to reduce the staggering number of children deprived of their liberty, estimated them to be more than 7 million per year. Official statistics of children deprived of their liberty is lacking in Nigeria. However, a rapid assessment conducted in 12 states at the onset of COVID in 2020 discovered over 600 children in various correctional centres, some detained with adults and majority at pre-trial stages,” it stated.

Giving his keynote address, Malami said that part of the challenge is that very few cases of offenses by or against children make it to the courtrooms.

He, however, observed that his office was already reviewing policies to ensure that non-custodial and alternative measures are meted out to child offenders.

“Just as the Federal Ministry of Justice partnered with respective FCT Heads of Court to review and upgrade the FCT Custodial and Non-Custodial Sentencing Practice Directions [which was signed by the Hon. Justice (Dr) I.U.Bello, former Chief Judge of the FCT] to include non-custodial and alternative measures to detention in cases of minor offences by adult offenders, the Ministry is currently reviewing extant laws and policies to include alternative and non-custodial sentences for child offenders.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, towards the reformation of the juvenile Justice system, the Federal Ministry of Justice in collaboration with the Nigeria Law Reform Commission will review the Borstal Institutions Act, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.

“A major reason for the proposed review is to bring the Act in conformity with the provisions of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act 2015 and the Nigerian Correctional Service Act, 2019,” he said.

The AGF was represented at the event by the Special Assistant to the President on Research and Special Duties, Professor Muhammad Lawal Ahmadu.