A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF THE INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK PROTECTING THE RIGHT OF INMATES IN NIGERIA

Abstract

Inmates while observing the sentence of a court or awaiting trial in correctional custody do not totally lose their rights
as human beings and therefore enjoy certain basic rights despite being confined to a correctional Centre. This article
examines the institutional frameworks protecting the rights of inmates in Nigeria. The institutional
frameworkprotecting the rights of Nigerian inmates at the African regional and international fronts was examined.
The principal aim of this article is to examine the institutional frameworks protecting the Nigerian inmates’ rights
and make a case for reform, while the specific objective is to identify institutions saddled with the responsibility of the
protecting rights of the Nigerian inmates. The doctrinal research methodology was adopted and reliance was made
extensively on primary and secondary sources, through the utilization of international instruments, regional laws, and
domestic laws, among others. This article finds that the institutional frameworks protecting the rights of the inmates
in Nigeria are the Judiciary, Nigerian Police, National Human Rights Commission, Nigerian Correctional Service,
Legal Aid Council, Administration of Justice Commission, and Administration of Criminal Justice Monitoring
Committee, among others. This article finds also that at the regional and international front, the institutional
frameworks protecting the rights of Nigerian inmates are the Africa Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights,
Africa Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights, Special Rapporteur on Prisons and Conditions of Detention in Africa,
United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, United Nations Human Rights Council,
Committee Against Torture, among others. This article discovered and concluded that the domestic institutional
frameworks, particularly the National Human Commission, Nigeria Correctional Service and Legal Aid Council are
inactive in the protection of the rights of Nigerian inmates. Therefore, this article recommends that the domestic
institutional frameworks protecting the rights of Nigerian inmates should be more proactive in ensuring the
monitoring and protection of the rights of Nigerian inmates. Also, the sections Legal Aid Act,
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dealing with the mandate
of the Legal Aid Council should be amended to create a special section of the Legal Aid Council to be specifically in
charge of inmates’ rights enforcement.