PUNISHMENT AND ITS JUSTIFICATION IN OUR PRISON SYSTEM (NIGERIA AS CASE STUDY)

PUNISHMENT AND ITS JUSTIFICATION IN OUR PRISON (NIGERIA CASE STUDY)
Prison generally is a concept that means a place of short or long term confinement for those convicted of a serious crime (law breakers) whereas crime is an active or inactive act of violating the penal law. According to CLAIRE FINKELSTIN “punishment is justified because and to the extent that individuals have effectively consented to it and have derived benefit from the scheme of the cooperation that the institution of punishment makes possible”. To this end I therefore, suggest that punishment should be a vital factor for ensuring that all rules, regulations and laws are obeyed  STRICTO SENSU (completely) for  BONUM PUSLICUM (public good)  as an ingredient in our criminal justice system, TALIS QUALIS (such as it is)  “ there is no law without punishment”.

However, prisons and police cells should serve as deterrence to others, where individuals will be aware of a version of punishment attached to a crime that awaits any breach of the penal law. Using a single offender as an object of lesson to deter unlike what is obtainable in our prisons and police cells which is more the reason why inmates in Nigeria have outnumbered the amount of prisons we have in the system of the country. Bitterly to say prisoners meant to be corrected of their actus reus (guilty act)  as to serve a deterrence to individuals out there with similar mens rea, (guilty intent)  end up been castrated, dehumanize and brutalize to the peak. To this end, it is observable that our criminal justice system needs redress.

Section 34(1)(a) CFRN 1999 as amended 2011 states “No person shall be subjected to torture or to inhuman or degrading treatment”  and this has been the modus operandi in Nigeria sub nomine (under the name of) punishment declared by law. When  the law says labour not torture? As exception to human dignity. Moreso, the sin should be hated not the sinner as quoted by MAHATMA GANDHI ( crusader for liberty).
As such since the crucial essence of inflicting punishment is to reform the offender to refrain from committing any other crime in violation of the penal law and as well send an object lesson to deter individuals, prison warders  and authorities involved to make prisons rehabilitation zones as well as signal for sending deterrence to individuals.

See the case of The STATE vs. OKECHUKWU (1965) ENLR Pg 91 where a medical quack was sentence for 19yrs for the charge of manslaughter. NKEMENA J said “ these type of offence are very common nowadays and a deterrent punishment is called for in this case, ignorant person should not be allowed experiment with the life of others”.

In conclusion, the limit of sentence should be re-visited by the appropriate authorities sub modo (within limit) as to come about prisons devoid of more capacity to what it can actually accommodate, and inmates should be set free when their term of prison has been exhausted sublata causa tollitur effectus (the cause being removed, the effect ceases). However, dehumanization and castration of inmates should be stopped for committing a criminal act does not make one a captive of slavery, but a transgressor of the law under punishment according to law.

Hither is my humble submission as regard punishment and its justification in our prisons, open to any legal observation or correction.