Mass arrest and detention of suspected COVID-19 palliative looters across states of the Federation threatens Federal Government’s plan to decongest correctional facilities’ detention centres. The country also stands the risk of a spike and rebound of the dreaded COVID-19 pandemic, following violation of social distancing protocols by citizens.
The Federal Ministry of Justice, in partnership with the Ministry of Interior and the Presidential Committee on Correctional Service Reform and Decongestion (PCCSRD), had embarked on a nationwide decongestion exercise shortly after the outbreak of COVID-19 to stifle the spread of
the virus in the various correctional centres across the 36 states and the FCT.
According to the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN), about 3,751 former inmates, mostly adults, were released during the said exercise, which is not only classified as a mitigation measure for the pandemic but a fundamental contribution to
the ongoing justice sector reform by the ministry.
The decongestion, Malami had said, was one of the steps by his ministry towards implementing the Federal Executive Council’s mandate to decongest Correctional Centres and reform the justice sector.
During a recent virtual session on implementing Amnesty and Decongestion for Juveniles Deprived of their Liberty during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond, Malami had announced that leveraging the achievements recorded during the said exercise, the ministry articulated plans for the second phase of the nationwide custodial decongestion.
The focus, he noted, would be on implementing amnesty and decongestion for juveniles deprived of their liberty during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond through the collaborative efforts of the state attorneys-general, heads of courts in the 36 states and the FCT, the Ministry of Women
Affairs, the Nigerian Correctional Service, Non-Government Organisations, like the United Nations Children’s Funds (UNICEF), as well as other critical justice sector stakeholders.
But all those gains and plans are now endangered following the recent uprising that culminated in the alleged looting of COVID-19 warehouses in some states and the subsequent mass arrest, which would end up congesting detention centres again.
Lagos State Police Command had, on Tuesday, declared that it had arrested over 200 suspects for their involvement in looting. Mr. Hakeem Odumosu, who is the Lagos Commissioner of Police, paraded the suspects and the
items recovered from them on Tuesday at the Police Headquarters in Ikeja.
Besides Lagos, some state governors had also called on residents to return the looted items to the warehouses or risk arrest and prosecution. Governor Ahmadu Fintiri of Adamawa State had vowed to arrest and try perpetrators for looting.
He made the threat in Yola and urged security agencies to carry out the instruction. Also, Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-rufai, had ordered security agencies to conduct house-to-house search for looted palliatives.
In his verified twitter handle, he maintained that those involved must be arrested and prosecuted. “We intend to bring each and everyone of them to justice. Stealing and destruction of property in the guise of #EndSARS will not be tolerated in Kaduna State,” he insisted.
Similarly, Governor Ben Ayade of Cross River, stunned by the wild looting by hungry and angry residents, ordered a house-to-house search to retrieve the loot. The governor, who pledged to arrest suspects, gave the police the tasks in a statement issued on Sunday in Calabar by Mr. Christian Ita, his Special Adviser, Media and Publicity.
In Osun State, the Governor, Gbeyega Oyetola, ordered residents that took part in the looting to return removed items or face the full wrath of the law. He also directed house-to-house search for the palliatives.