Abstract
This chapter demonstrates the efforts consistently directed through legislative synergy at various point in the history of Nigeria towards supporting and sustaining national responses to enable children to realise their rights. The chapter further establishes that until 2003, Nigeria has been applying various legislations for the treatment and protection of children in conflict with the law and demonstrates the influence of the international and regional legal instruments on the enactment of the Child Rights Act (CRA), 2003. Despite the enactment of CRA, child offenders are still being stigmatised, discriminated and suffering from the administrational system. They are exposed to formal criminal process and mingling them with adult criminals. In addition, the structures of custodial institutions were further analysed and the chapter voiced out that some of the institutions have derogated from international standards. The chapter, therefore, calls for a comprehensive legislative reform to ensure that rights of vulnerable children are systematically addressed in the laws and policies and there is coherent consolidated children’s legislation like what is obtainable in South Africa child justice regime.
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Notes
- 1.
This assertion gains credence from the Constitution. For instance, Section 1(1) of the 1999 Constitution provides that “this Constitution is supreme and its provisions shall have binding force on all authorities and persons throughout the Federal Republic of Nigeria”. Furthermore, Section 1(3) of the Constitution provides that “if any other law is inconsistent with the provisions of this Constitution, this Constitution shall prevail, and that other law shall to the extent of this inconsistency be void”.
- 2.
1960, 1979, and 1999 as amended.
- 3.
See Section 33 of 1999 Constitution.
- 4.
See Section 35, ibid.
- 5.
See Section 36, ibid. By Section 36(4)(a) of the 1999 Constitution, right to fair hearing in a competent Court is guaranteed and the Court can exclude the public in the interest of the welfare of persons under eighteen years or the protection of the private lives of persons where the Court is of the opinion that publicity will be contrary to the interest of justice.
- 6.
See Section 41, ibid.
- 7.
It should be noted that the non-justiciability of the directive principle as declared by Section 6(6)(c) of the 1999 Constitution is not sacrosanct as the effect is if the Constitution otherwise provides in another section, which will make any section of Chapter 2 to be justiciable. This gains credence in the case of Federal Republic of Nigeria v. Alhaji Mika Anache & Others (2004) 14 WRN 61 where the Court held that Section 6(6)(c) of the Constitution provides a leeway by the use of the words “except as otherwise provided by this Constitution”.
- 8.
This is amply demonstrated by the Court of Appeal’s decision in the celebrated case of Karimatu Yakubu v. AlhajiPaiko Appeal No. CA/K/80s/85—unreported, Court of Appeal, Kaduna where the Court allowed the appeal in favour of a teenage girl on the ground that her right to consent in marriage and to marry her suitor was of paramount consideration even under the Shariah family law notwithstanding her father’s right to exercise the power of Ijbar (compulsion), according to the Maliki school of Law widely followed in Northern Nigeria.
- 9.
i.e. Ordinances 44 of 1945; 27 of 1947; 16 of 1950 as well as the Laws of Nigeria 131 of 1954; 47 of 1955; and Order in Council 22 of 1958.
- 10.
Cap 32 laws of the Federation of Nigeria and Lagos 1958.
- 11.
The law was extended to the Eastern and Western Regions of Nigeria in 1946 by Order in Council, No 22 of 1946. The law was enacted for the Northern Region in 1958 and constituted the Children and Young Persons Law, Cap 21 of the Laws of Northern Nigeria 1963.
- 12.
Lagos State adopted the law in 1970—Children and Young Persons Law Cap. 26 of the Laws of Lagos State.
- 13.
List of those states that are yet to domesticate the Child Rights Act was later enumerated in this study.
- 14.
It is important to note that this bail condition, however, does not apply to a person: (a) accused of homicide or other grave crimes or (b) to situation where “it is necessary in the interest of such person to remove him from association with any reputed criminal or prostitute” or (c) to a situation where “the officer has reason to believe that the release of such person would defeat the ends of justice”. The last condition (c) appears too vague and may be abused to unnecessarily deny bail to young offenders.
- 15.
See the tables on age composition of prisoners in Nigerian prisons published in Annual Abstract of Statistics published by the Federal Office of Statistics. Quoted in Alemika E.E.O. and Chukwuma I.C., Juvenile Justice Administration in Nigeria: Philosophy and Practice. This can also be confirmed from the report gathered from The Vanguard Newspaper of 5 September 2008 at p. 10 that “No fewer than 200 juveniles are currently languishing in Port Harcourt Prison as they have been put behind bars amongst over 2,400 inmates, in (sic) which over 1,800 of the adults and children are awaiting trial”.
- 16.
Abrifor et al., ‘Differences, Trend and Pattern Recidivism Among Inmates in Selected Nigerian Prisons’ (2010), European Scientific Journal.
- 17.
Falobi, F., (2009). ‘Empowering Prison Inmates’, http://www.independentngonline.com/ (last visited 21 September 2009).
- 18.
Wilson, H., (2009). ‘Curbing Recidivism in Our Society’, http://www.pioneerng.com/article.php?title=Curbing_Recidivism_In_Our_Societyandid=2765 (last visited 20 December 2009).
- 19.
Soyombo, O., Sociology and Crime Control: That We May Live in Peace, (2009).
- 20.
Ugwuoke, C. U., Criminology: Explaining Crime in the Nigerian Context 23, (2010).
- 21.
The places of detention referred to in many sections of CYPA are remand homes, approved institutions including Borstal institutions and prisons. A native or local authority or a local government council with prior approval of competent authority “may establish remand homes and may make rules for the management, upkeep and inspection of such homes.” See Sections 15 and 18 of CYPA.
- 22.
See Alemika, E. E. O., and Chukwuma, I. C., Juvenile Justice Administration in Nigeria: Philosophy and Practice, p. 49.
- 23.
In an earlier discussion under this section of the book, studies by the author, Abrifor et al., Uma, Falobi, Wilson, Soyombo and Ngwuoke, shown that in practice, “great majority of children in conflict with the law were held together with adults in the regular prisons” which negate the provision of Section 15(3) of CYPA.
- 24.
See Section 18 of CYPA.
- 25.
See Section 21 of CYPA.
- 26.
Human Rights Monitor, Administration of Juvenile Justice: The Example of the Borstal Training Institution, Kaduna, 1997.
- 27.
See Alemika, E. E. O., and Chukwuma, I. C., Juvenile Justice Administration in Nigeria: Philosophy and Practice, p. 49.
- 28.
Section 15 CYPA.
- 29.
See an Operational Research Report on Challenges of Borstal Institutions, Remand Homes, Reformatories and Approved Schools in Nigeria submitted to the Federal Department of Social Welfare, Federal Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development, Abuja, Nigeria by Alamveabee E. Idyotough, June, 2013.
- 30.
See generally Section 15 CYPA and Section 14 CYPL of Lagos State.
- 31.
This is evident few cases reported showing the attitudes of Nigerian courts in literally throwing juvenile offenders into prisons. For instance, in the case of C.O.P v. Friday Idehen (Unreported) B/BCA/71, High Court Benni, where the accused a juvenile offender was sentenced to six months imprisonment with hard labour or one hundred naira fine for assault occasioning harm in the course of a fight. On appeal, a sentence of six strokes of the cane was substituted and the High Court of Benni observed that “if the Magistrate had taken account of his youth he would have been persuaded that the accused is adolescent youth who needed correction rather than punishment…” Also in a similar vein, in the case of Oyeneye v. C.O.P (1983) 1 N.C.R. 245 where a young offender was sentenced to four years imprisonment for offence of theft and while reducing the sentence to two years imprisonment on appeal, the High Court observed that not giving these matters due consideration as required by the relevant authorities and a four-year jail sentence for a young offender are more likely to harden than reform; indeed, it will make reform and rehabilitation difficult.
- 32.
See Section 5(f) of the Riyadh Guidelines, 1990.
- 33.
Article 4 of UN Convention 1989 provides to the effect that the Convention on the Rights of the child enjoins that “Member States shall undertake to disseminate the Conventions principles and take all appropriate legislative, administrative and other measures for the implementation of the rights recognized in the present Convention.” See also Article 40(3) of the UNCRC.
- 34.
Child Rights Act, Cap C 50 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004. This is a Federal Act which seeks to incorporate the contemporary principles, philosophy and standards of juvenile justice administration into the Nigerian legal system. It is equally seen as an attempt to provide a comprehensive uniform law on the protection of child rights nationwide. However, as a Federal Act on a subject which is not within the exclusive legislative competence of the Federal Government, the Act (with the exception of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja which has direct application) can only become binding on States if it is approved by a simple majority of all the States or if in the alternative, interested States pass their own version with or without reference to the Federal Statute. See Owasanoye B., Wenham M., Street Children and Juvenile Justice System in Lagos State of Nigeria, p. 11 cited in Okoro, H. C., ‘Juvenile Justice Administration in Nigeria and International Standards on the Rights of the Child’.
- 35.
The Child Rights Act is a law to consolidate and amend the legal framework relating to juveniles in conflict with law and children in need of care and protection. It provides for proper care, protection and treatment by catering to a child’s development needs. It attempts to adopt a child-friendly approach in the adjudication and disposition of matters in his/her best interest and secure his/her ultimate rehabilitation through various institutions established under this enactment.
- 36.
The laudable goals of the provision of the Act have not gained full implementation as shown in a report on human rights violations monitored in Nigeria by the Network of Human Rights Violations Monitors in collaboration with the National Human Rights Commission between 2005 and 2006 at pages 89–91 where children ranging from fifteen years to seventeen years of age were detained at Prisons.
- 37.
See Section 221(1)(b) CRA 2003.
- 38.
(2015) 9 NWLR (pt. 1464) 213.
- 39.
See Section 204 CRA, 2003.
- 40.
See Section 205 CRA, 2003.
- 41.
See Section 222 CRA, 2003.
- 42.
Those provisions aim at enhancing capacity and use of programmes for diversion and appropriate sentence of children by stipulating that every role player exercising discretion under the child justice system must be specially qualified and trained particularly the police, probation/social workers, magistrates, judges, lawyers and any other person who makes a determination on child offenders.
- 43.
Section 208(1) provides: “In view of the varying special needs of children and the variety of measures available, a person who makes determination on the child offenders shall exercise such discretion, as he deems most appropriate in each case, at all stages of the proceedings and at the different levels of child justice administration, including investigation, prosecution, adjudication and the follow-up of dispositions.”
- 44.
See Section 209 CRA, 2003.
- 45.
See Owasanoye, B., and Wenham, M., Street Children and Juvenile Justice System in Lagos State of Nigeria, Human Development Initiative. 2004. p. 31. Here, the police have the first opportunity to divert child offenders from the formal Court system followed by the prosecutors and then the magistrates and judges who are empowered to operate a model of justice that is restorative then rehabilitative and in the least retributive.
- 46.
The judges are empowered under Section 223 above to dispose of cases where they are satisfied that an offence has been committed, with alternatives to custodial or institutional placement. The section also provides for situations where there is sufficient evidence to prosecute, and where decisions have been taken to proceed to trial that diversion must be considered in each and every case in order to meet the needs of the child and encourage the child to be accountable to the harm caused. Also, Section 213 of the Child Rights Act does not permit the use of the terms “conviction” or “sentence” to be used in relation to a child dealt with in the Court.
- 47.
See Section 223(2) CYPA.
- 48.
See Section 149 of Child Rights Act, 2003.
- 49.
See Part XX of the Child Rights Act.
- 50.
Ibid.
- 51.
The act of imprisonment before the advent of the Child Rights Act can be seen from the few cases reported showing the attitudes of Nigerian courts in literally throwing juvenile offenders into prisons. For instance, in the case of C.O.P v. Friday Idehen (Unreported) B/BCA/71, High Court Benin, where the accused a juvenile offender was sentenced to six months imprisonment with hard labour or one hundred naira fine for assault occasioning harm in the course of a fight. On appeal, a sentence of six strokes of the cane was substituted and the High Court of Benin observed that “if the Magistrate had taken account of his youth he would have been persuaded that the accused is adolescent youth who needed correction rather than punishment…” Also in a similar vein, in the case of Oyeneye v. C.O.P (1983) 1 N.C.R. 245 where a young offender was sentenced to four years imprisonment for offence of theft and while reducing the sentence to two years imprisonment on appeal, the High Court observed that not giving these matters due consideration as required by the relevant authorities and a four-year jail sentence for a young offender are more likely to harden than reform; indeed, it will make reform and rehabilitation difficult.
- 52.
See generally Part VII of the Child Rights Act, 2003.
- 53.
See Part XXII of the Child Rights Act, 2003. The wide objective of those provisions is to provide treatment with a view to enable the child play a constructive and productive role in the society.
- 54.
Analysis of the Author’s field survey and interviews conducted at Lagos, Kaduna, Port Harcourt, Enugu, Bauchi and Ilorin in 2014.
- 55.
Borstal Institutions and Remand Centre Act 32 1960, now Cap B38 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2011.
- 56.
Child Rights Act has been promulgated into Law in only twenty-three States which are Abia, Anambra, Bayelsa, Eboniyi, Ekiti, Imo, Jigawa, Kwara, Lagos, Nassarawa, Ogun, Ondo, Plateau, Rivers, Taraba, Kogi, Oyo, Benue, Osun, Edo, Delta, Cross River, Akwa Ibom Available at www.unicef.org/wcaro/WCARO_Nigeria_Factsheets_CRA.pdf (accessed on 18 January 2013). It leaves thirteen States without Child Rights Law and these States one way or the other are still using the Children and Young Persons Laws of their respective States.
- 57.
Author’s field survey at Lagos, Kaduna, Port Harcourt, Enugu, Bauchi and Ilorin in 2014.
- 58.
Ibid.
- 59.
Interview conducted by the author at Enugu State, Nigeria dated 13 March 2014.
- 60.
Author’s field survey at Lagos, Kaduna, Port Harcourt, Enugu, Bauchi and Ilorin in 2014.
- 61.
Ibid.
- 62.
Ibid.
- 63.
Ibid.
- 64.
Ibid.
- 65.
Ibid.
- 66.
Ibid.
- 67.
Ibid.
- 68.
Ibid.
- 69.
See Ahire, P. T., ‘Native Authority Police in Northern Nigeria: End of an era?’
- 70.
Going by the provisions of Article 40 of UNCRC and Article 17 of the ACRWC, a child in conflict with the law has the right to treatment which promotes the child’s sense of dignity and worth, takes the child’s age into account and aims at his or her defence. Judicial proceedings and institutional placements shall be avoided wherever possible.
- 71.
Aguda, T. A., and Okagbue, I., Principles of Criminal Liability in Nigerian Law (Ibadan: Heinemann Educational Books, 1990), 323–329; See also Osinbajo and Kalu, Law Development and Administration in Nigeria, pp. 168–169.
- 72.
See Section 30 of the Criminal Code Act cap C38 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.
- 73.
(1919)83 J.P. 136. See also the following cases of T vs. D.P.P. (1989) Crim. L.R. 498, McC vs. Runecles (1984) Crim. L.R. 499, C vs. DPP (1994) Crim. L.R. 801 and W (An Infant) and Another vs. Simpson (1967) Crim. L.R. 360.
- 74.
State vs. Nwabueze (1980)1 NCR 41.
- 75.
See Section 415 of CPA.
- 76.
See Section 414 of CPA.
- 77.
This provision provides thus: “Where an offender who in the opinion of the court had not attained the age of seventeen years at the time the offence was committed is found guilty of a capital offence sentence of death shall not be pronounced or recorded but in lieu thereof the court shall order such person to be detained during the pleasure of the President and if so ordered he shall be detained in accordance with the provisions of Part 44 of this Act notwithstanding anything to the contrary in any written law”.
- 78.
It has to be noted that by the effects of the provisions of Section 432 of the Criminal Procedure Act, a child below the age of nine or above nine but below fourteen years of age shall not be sentenced to imprisonment or committed to prison in default of a fine or damages unless if the court is satisfied that the child is unruly of a character that cannot be detained in government institutions.
- 79.
See Section 413 of CPA.
- 80.
Section 50 of the Penal Code.
- 81.
Section 319(2) CPC.
- 82.
Section 55 Penal Code Act.
- 83.
See Article 19 of the UNCRC which provides thus: “The State shall protect the child from all forms of maltreatment by parents or others responsible for the care of the child and establish appropriate social programmes for the prevention of abuse and the treatment of victims”.
- 84.
See generally Section 223, Nigerian CRA on methods of dealing with child offender particularly Subsection (2). See also Section 18 CC, see also Sections 302(1) & (2) and 427 CPA, Section 295 CC.
- 85.
See Section 221(1) Nigerian CRA, 2003.
- 86.
One of the States that adopted Shari’ah Law is Zamfara State. Shari’ah Courts Law of 1999 (Zamfara 1-1999) and Zamfara Penal Code were adopted in January 2000.
- 87.
Hudud means offences or punishments that is fixed under the Shari’ah and includes offences or punishments which include sexual offences like Zina (Fornication). See Sections 126 to 141 of the Shari’ah Penal Code.
- 88.
See Quran 4.
- 89.
Section 71 of the Zamfara Penal Code. See also, Zamfara State Shari’ah Criminal Procedure Code law of 2000, No. 1, Vol. 4.
- 90.
Qisa means punishments inflicted upon the offenders by way of retaliation for causing death of or injuries to person.
- 91.
Taklif means the age of puberty.
- 92.
See similar provision in Section 238(1) of the Zamfara State Shari’ah Criminal Procedure Code Law 2000, No. 1, Vol. 4.
- 93.
See Section 5(b) Shari’ah Penal Code.
- 94.
The implication of this provision is that, age of criminal responsibility as being defined by the law to be either puberty or 18 years means once a child has reached puberty and commits any offence under the Law, he will be prosecuted and punished like adults and by implication, where children reach puberty earlier than 18 years, no distinction is made between juvenile and adults in dispensing Shari’ah punishment under this general provision. See Integrated Regional Information Networks (IRIN), Nigeria: Focus on the Administration of Juvenile Justice, 26 August 2002. Available at http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=29531 (accessed on 7 February 2010). Similarly, by Section 7(1) of the Shari’ah Law, the applicable laws and rules of procedures for hearing and determination of all civil and criminal proceedings before Shari’ah Courts shall be as prescribed under Islamic Law. The implication of this provision is that juvenile offenders are not protected under the general provisions. The notion of this law is that the juvenile offender will be tried before Shari’ah Courts instead of juvenile Courts and in essence he or she will be punished or sanctioned by flogging or amputation as an adult who has committed the offence that warrants flogging or amputation. This, of course, violates Article 37 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child which stipulates that “No child shall be subjected to torture, cruel treatment or punishment, unlawful arrest, or deprivation of liberty. Both capital punishment and life imprisonment without the possibility for release are prohibited for offences committed by persons below 18 years. Any child deprived of liberty shall be separated from adults unless it is considered in the child’s best interest not to do so. A child who is detained shall have legal and other assistance as well as contact with the family”. At the same time, the Shari’ah Court Law allows discrimination against girls in determining age of criminal responsibility because girls often achieve puberty earlier than boys as the menstruation is often considered as the achievement of ‘maturity’ or ‘puberty’ even though the onset of menstruation is not the same for all. See Okoli, B., Nigeria: The Constitution and Child Rights, October 19, 2007, available at http://allafrica.com/stories200710190453.html (accessed on 15 December 2009).
- 95.
Ta’zir relates to stipulation of punishment according to the discretion of the Shari’ah Court judges, Grand Kadis or Magistrates.
- 96.
See the UNICEF report on the Profile of Existing Diversion Programmes in Nigeria. Available at http://www.unicef.org/nigeria/ng_publications_diversionpdf-similar (accessed on 28 May 2011), p. 30.
- 97.
See the preamble to the ACJA 2015.
- 98.
Section 2 Administration of Criminal Justice Act 2015.
- 99.
Section 6 Administration of Criminal Justice Act 2015.
- 100.
Section 8, ibid.
- 101.
Section 15, ibid.
- 102.
Section 110, ibid.
- 103.
Section 269, ibid.
- 104.
Available at https://lawpavilion.com/blog/the-administration-of-criminal-justice-act-2015-acja/ (Accessed on 25 April 2018).
- 105.
Section 270 Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015.
- 106.
Section 460, ibid.
- 107.
Section 296, ibid.
- 108.
Section 15, Subsection 4, ibid.
- 109.
Section 396, ibid.
- 110.
See the provisions of Sections 8(1), Section 460(1), Section 460(2), Section 468, Section 314, Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015, among others.
- 111.
See Akeem Nafiu and Tunde Oyesina, “ACJA 2015: So Far, Not Too Good”, available at https://newtelegraphonline.com/2017/12/acja-2015-far-not-good/ (accessed on 25 April 2018).
- 112.
See Ahire, P. T., ‘Native Authority Police in Northern Nigeria: End of an Era?’ in T. N. Tamuno, I. L. Bashir, E. E. O. Alemika, and A. O. Akano (eds.), Policing Nigeria: Past, Present and Future (Lagos: Malthouse Press Ltd., 1993).
- 113.
Sections 105–110 of 1963, Section 194–196 of the 1979 Constitution and Sections 214–216 1999 Constitution of Nigeria.
- 114.
Section 4 Police Act.
- 115.
See generally Section 207–212 of the CRA 2003.
- 116.
See also Section 211 of the Child Rights Act.
- 117.
See Section 209 CRA 2003.
- 118.
See Ahire, P. T. ‘Native Authority Police in Northern Nigeria: End of an Era?’, in T. N. Tamuno, I. L. Bashir, E. E. O. Alemika, and A. O. Akano (eds.), Policing Nigeria: Past, Present and Future.
- 119.
Author’s field survey at Lagos, Kaduna, Port Harcourt, Enugu, Bauchi and Ilorin in 2014.
- 120.
Ibid.
- 121.
Interview conducted by the author in Bauchi State Police Headquarters dated 12 February 2014.
- 122.
Ibid.
- 123.
Author’s field survey at Lagos, Kaduna, Port Harcourt, Enugu, Bauchi, and Ilorin in 2014.
- 124.
Interview conducted by the author in Kaduna State dated 14 February 2014.
- 125.
Alemika, E. E. O., and Chukwuma, I. C., Juvenile Justice Administration in Nigeria: Philosophy and Practice (Lagos: Centre for Law Enforcement Education, 2001).
- 126.
Tamuno, T. N., Bashir, I. L., Alemika, E. E. O., and Akano, A. O. (eds.), Policing Nigeria: Past, Present and Future (Lagos: Malthouse Press Ltd., 1993).
- 127.
Author’s field survey at Lagos, Kaduna, Port Harcourt, Enugu, Bauchi and Ilorin in 2014.
- 128.
See Schafer, S., The Victim and His Criminal: A Study of Functional Responsibility (New York: Random House, 1978) cited by Chinwe R. Nwanna and Naomi E. N. Akpan, Research Findings of Juvenile Justice Administration in Nigeria.
- 129.
See Section 151 CRA.
- 130.
This represents the view of the respondent in an interview conducted by the author in Kwara State, Nigeria dated 18 February 2014
- 131.
See Sections 149 and 150 of the Child Rights Act, 2003.
- 132.
See, Abdulraheem-Mustapha, M. A., ‘Child Justice Administration in the Nigerian Child Rights Act: Lessons from South Africa’ (2016), African Human Rights Law Journal 16(1), 435–457. Published by Faculty of Law, University of Pretoria, South Africa.
- 133.
Author’s field survey and interview conducted at Ilorin, Kwara State, 2014.
- 134.
Kwara State, Nigeria domesticated the Child Rights Act into Law in 2006. See Kwara State of Nigeria, Gazette 7, Vol. 41, 2007.
- 135.
Author’s field survey at Lagos, Kaduna, Port Harcourt, Enugu, Bauchi and Ilorin in 2014.
- 136.
See Sections 6(2), 6(4) and 12(3) CYPA which provide that a court when hearing charges against children or young persons shall, unless the child or young person is charged jointly with any person not being a child or young person, sit either in a different building or room from that in which the ordinary sittings of the court are held, or on different days or at different times from those at which the ordinary sittings are held. The rationale is ostensibly to prevent contamination of juveniles by adult offenders and possibly also ensuring that a juvenile Court maintains its peculiar character and tenor. See Osibanjo, Y., Juvenile Justice Administration in Nigeria, p. 67. This is clear from additional provisions in Section 6(5) (6), which state that: (5) In a juvenile court no person other than the members and officers of the court and the parties to the case, their solicitors and counsel, and other persons directly concerned shall, except by leave of such court, be allowed to attend: provided that such bona fide representative of a newspaper or news agency shall not be excluded, except by special order of the court. (6) No person shall publish the name, address, school, photograph or do anything likely to lead to the identification of the child or young person before a juvenile court, save with the permission of such court or in so far as required by the provisions of this Ordinance. Any person who acts in contravention of the provisions of this subsection shall be liable to a fine of fifty pounds.
- 137.
See Section 157(2) of the Child Rights Act.
- 138.
Ibid.
- 139.
Section 6 CYPA.
- 140.
Ibid. See also Stephenie J. Mill, ‘The Age of Criminal Responsibility in an Era of Violence: Has Britain set a Vandabult’ (1995), Journal of Transnational Law 28(2), Vandabult University Nashville p. 300, who argued that the British system also operates a similar system where the juvenile Courts are not separate tribunals but simply a special sitting of the magistrates’ Court to hear only juvenile matters. The only difference is that there are more advanced policies to protect the juvenile.
- 141.
Author’s field survey at Lagos, Kaduna, Port Harcourt, Enugu, Bauchi and Ilorin in 2014.
- 142.
Report of the Seventh United Nations Congress on the Prevention of Crime and Treatment of Offenders: CA/Conf.121/22/Rev., 1.
- 143.
Author’s field survey at Lagos, Kaduna, Port Harcourt, Enugu, Bauchi and Ilorin in 2014.
- 144.
Ibid.
- 145.
Interview conducted by the author at Ilorin, Kwara State, Nigeria dated 18 February 2014.
- 146.
Interview conducted by the author at Kaduna State, Nigeria dated 12 February 2014.
- 147.
Milner, A., The Nigerian Penal System (London: Sweet and Maxwell, 1972), cited in Abdul-Mumin Sa’ad, ‘Juvenile Justice in Nigeria’, A Paper Presented at the Conference Session of the Research Committee on Deviant Behaviour (RC 29) During the XVI International Sociological Association (ISA) World Congress of Sociology (Durban, South Africa, 2006).
- 148.
Author’s field survey at Lagos, Kaduna, Port Harcourt, Enugu, Bauchi and Ilorin in 2014.
- 149.
This institution sprang from the early nineteenth-century schools of industry in Britain, chiefly directed to the suppression of child begging. See Ferguson, T., The Young Delinquent in His Social Setting (London: Oxford University Press, 1952) cited Abdul-Mumin Sa’ad, ‘Juvenile Justice in Nigeria’.
- 150.
Igbo, E. U. M., Introduction to Criminology (Nsukka: Afro-Orbis Publishing Co. Ltd., 1999) cited by Chinwe R. Nwanna and Naomi E. N. Akpan, Research Findings of Juvenile Justice Administration in Nigeria. 84.
- 151.
Ogbolumani, B. O. I., ‘Institutional Treatment of Juveniles’, in T. O. Elias (ed.), The Magistrate and the Offender (Lagos: University Press, 1972), p. 119. Cited by Chinwe R. Nwanna and Naomi E. N. Akpan, Research Findings of Juvenile Justice Administration in Nigeria, p. 37. See also Rule 10 of the Approved Institutions Regulations made under the CYPA.
- 152.
Author’s field survey at Lagos, Kaduna, Port Harcourt, Enugu, Bauchi and Ilorin in 2014.
- 153.
Borstal Institutions and Remand Centre Act No. 32 1960 now cap B38 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004.
- 154.
Igbo, E. U. M., Introduction to Criminology, pp. 86–87.
- 155.
See Milner, A., The Nigerian Penal System, p. 357.
- 156.
See Sections 4, 7, 9, and 26 of the Children and Young Persons Act.
- 157.
Okagbue, I., the Treatment of Juvenile Offenders and the Rights of the Child in the Rights of the Child in Nigeria, p. 243.
- 158.
See UNICEF, report on the Profile of Existing Diversion Programmes in Nigeria. http://www.unicef.org/nigeria/ng_publications_diversionpdf-similar (last visited 28 May 2011).
- 159.
Author’s field survey at Lagos, Kaduna, Port Harcourt, Enugu, Bauchi, and Ilorin in 2014.
- 160.
Ibid.
- 161.
Ibid.
- 162.
Ibid.
- 163.
Lord Lugard as Governor of Nigeria and the apostle of Indirect Rule encouraged Native Authorities to establish prisons to enable the authorities exert coercive control over their subjects or opposition to governmental policies. Awe, B., ‘The History of The Prison System in Nigeria’, in T. O. Elias (ed.), The Nigerian Prison System (University of Lagos, 1968), 1.
- 164.
Ibid. See also Egu, M. A., History of the Nigerian Prison Service: An Insider Account (Abuja: Garkida Press Ltd., 1990), 1.
- 165.
Crowder, M., The Story of Nigeria (London: Faber and Faber, 1978), 36–47.
- 166.
E.g. Prisons Ordinance 1916; Laws of Nigeria 1948; 1958; Prisons Decree No 9 of 1972; Federal Government White paper released in 1971. See Awe, B. O., ‘History of the Prison System in Nigeria’, in T. O. Elias (ed.), The Prison System in Nigeria.
- 167.
Prison Act, Cap P.29, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.
- 168.
Author’s field survey at Lagos, Kaduna, Port Harcourt, Enugu, Bauchi and Ilorin in 2014.
- 169.
Ehonwa, O. L., Prisoners in the Shadows (Lagos: Civil Liberties Organization, 1993), 20.
- 170.
Ibid.
- 171.
Ogbolumani, B. O. I., ‘Institutional Treatment of Juveniles’, in T. O. Elias (ed.), The Magistrate and the Offender, p. 122.
- 172.
Ibid.
- 173.
Ibid.
- 174.
Presently, the applicable law is the Borstal Institutions and Remand Centre Act Cap B38 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004, which is a replication of the 1960 Act.
- 175.
The Government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria publication on the Crime and the quality of life in Nigeria in Lagos on August 1980 postulated that the establishment of Borstal institutions is aimed at effecting reform by inculcating habits of industry, self-respect and self-control through manual labour, games, physical training and mental education.
- 176.
Ibid., Section 2.
- 177.
The law also declares Borstal Remand Center as “a place for the detention of persons not less than sixteen but under twenty-one years of age who are remanded or committed in custody for trial or sentence”.
- 178.
See Ogbolumani, B. O. I., ‘Institutional Treatment of Juveniles’, in T. O. Elias (ed.), The Magistrate and the Offender, p. 122. See also, Igbo, E. U. M., Introduction to Criminology, 85–86. See also, Alemika, E. E. O., and Chukwuma, I. C., Juvenile Justice Administration in Nigeria: Philosophy and Practice, 52–53. See also Crime and the Quality of Life in Nigeria. Government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria Publication, Lagos, August 1980, p. 35.
- 179.
Milner, A., The Nigerian Penal System (London: Sweet and Maxwell, 1972).
- 180.
See Section 7.3 of this chapter for detailed analysis of the ranking of custodial institution in the administration of child justice in Nigeria.
- 181.
See Ogbolumani, B. O. I., ‘Institutional Treatment of Juveniles’, in T. O. Elias (ed.), The Magistrate and the Offender, p. 122. See also, Igbo, E. U. M., Introduction to Criminology, 85–86. See also, Alemika, E. E. O., and Chukwuma, I. C., Juvenile Justice Administration in Nigeria: Philosophy and Practice, 52–53. See also Crime and the Quality of Life in Nigeria. Government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria Publication, Lagos, August 1980, p. 35.
- 182.
See generally Sections 4, 19, 47, 50, 52, 54 and 123 of the Borstal Institutions and Remand Centres Act.
- 183.
See generally the Borstal Institutions and Remand Centre Act, Cap B38 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.
- 184.
See “Navigating the Juvenile Justice System: A Handbook for Families”. Developed by the Maryland Coalition of Families for Children’s Mental Health. Available at http://www.mdcoalition.org/documents/jjhandbook06.pdf (accessed on 26 February 2013).
- 185.
As aptly summed up by a British NGO, The Howard League, that “Prisons are ill equipped to deal with young women who are damaged and who display extremely challenging and difficult behaviour. The numbers of juvenile girls within the system are small and as a result they are simply tacked onto the rest of the system with little recognition that their needs are different and separate from older women. It also means that they attract fewer resources…”.
- 186.
See Child Rights Act, 2003, Section 278.
- 187.
Kaduna, Abeokuta, and Ilorin. See Aduba, J. N, ‘From Punishment to Treatment: Humane Approach to the Sentencing of Young Offenders’, in Women and Children Under the Nigerian Law 6, (1989). See also Ogbolumani supra note 58 at 117–130.
- 188.
This can be confirmed from the report gathered from The Vanguard Newspaper of 5 September 2008 at p. 10 that “No fewer than 200 juveniles are currently languishing in Port Harcourt Prison as they have been put behind bars amongst over 2,400 inmates, in (sic) which over 1,800 of the adults and children are awaiting trial”.
- 189.
Author’s field survey at Lagos, Kaduna, Port Harcourt, Enugu, Bauchi and Ilorin in 2014.
- 190.
Alemika, E. E. O., A Study of Socio-Cultural and Economic Factors in Delinquency Among Kaduna Borstal Inmates, 1978.
- 191.
Ahire, P. T., ‘Juvenile Delinquency and the Handling of Young Prisoners in Nigerian Borstal Institutions’, in The Nigerian Prisons Service and the Public 23, (1987).
- 192.
Human Rights Monitor, Administration of Juvenile Justice: the Example of the Borstal Training Institution Kaduna 10, (1997).
- 193.
See the Nigerian Prisons Service Annual Report for 1986, p. 46.
- 194.
See Section 236 of the Child Rights Act, 2003.
- 195.
Chinwe, R. N., and Naomi, E. N. A., Research Findings of Juvenile Justice Administration in Nigeria (Lagos: Constitutional Right Project [CRP], 2003).
- 196.
Author’s field survey at Lagos, Kaduna, Port Harcourt, Enugu, Bauchi and Ilorin in 2014.
- 197.
Chinwe, R. N., and Naomi, E. N. A., Research Findings of Juvenile Justice Administration in Nigeria (Lagos: Constitutional Right Project [CRP], 2003).
- 198.
Alemika, E. E. O., and Chukwuma, I. C., Juvenile Justice Administration in Nigeria: Philosophy and Practice (Lagos: Centre for Law Enforcement Education, 2001).
- 199.
Author’s field survey at Lagos, Kaduna, Port Harcourt, Enugu, Bauchi and Ilorin in 2014.
- 200.
Ibid.
- 201.
Ibid.
- 202.
Interview conducted by the author at Port Harcourt and Enugu, Nigeria dated 27 February and 13 March 2014.
- 203.
Ibid.
- 204.
Ibid.
- 205.
Holland, Paul, and Mlyniec, Wallace J., Whatever Happened to the Right to Treatment? The Modern Quest for a Historical Promise 68, (1995), 1791–1836.
- 206.
Yusuf, S., ‘Students’ Personnel Services and Academic Performance in Ilorin- South Local Government Area Secondary School. Kwara State’, 2011.
- 207.
Ibid.
- 208.
Edem, D. A, Introduction to Educational Administration in Nigeria 10, (1998). See also Ojo F., Human Resource Management: Theories and Issues 15 (1988).
- 209.
Adeleke, A. A., ‘Use of Library Resources by Academic Staff if the Nigerian Polytechnics’ (2005), Journal of library science 12(2), 15–24.
- 210.
Olaitan, G. I., (2003). Relationship Between Provision, Utilization of Students’ Services and Academic Achievement in Secondary Schools in Ilorin Metropolis.
- 211.
Author’s field survey at Lagos, Kaduna, Port Harcourt, Enugu, Bauchi and Ilorin in 2014.
- 212.
See Chapter 6 of this book for detail examination of the South African perspectives.
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Abdulraheem-Mustapha, M.A. (2020). Legal and Institutional Frameworks on Child Justice Administration in Nigeria. In: Child Justice Administration in Africa. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-19015-6_5
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