The Borno State House of Assembly has reached an advanced stage in its plans to amend two bills to check Boko Haram insurgency and other security challenges, the Deputy Speaker, Abdullahi Askira, said on Thursday.
This is just as the state was described as the only state without prison congestion.
The bills to be upgraded are the ‘Administration of Criminal Justice and Other Matters Connected Therewith Bill’ and the ‘Borno State Penal Code Re- Enactment Bill and other matters connected Therewith Bill, 2022’.
Borno is one of the only five states still trying to domesticate the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, as 31 states have so far domesticated it.
Askira said with the two bills, emerging criminal activities, such as cattle rustling and other criminalities, which were not initially captured in the state’s penal code, would be a thing of the past.
The Deputy Speaker stated these in Abuja during a two-day retreat organised for state legislators with the support of the European Union and the British Council.
He said the penal code law, which was last reviewed in 1994, would amend the criminal procedure code as it would introduce innovative provisions that could enhance the efficiency of the justice delivery system.
Askira said, “Both bills seek to promote efficient management of criminal justice institutions, speedy dispensation of justice and protection of the society from crime, among other sundry issues that were hitherto not captured in our penal code law.
“These two bills are timely and will not come at a better time when our state and country at large are bedevilled with all kinds of emerging criminal activities, such as cattle rustling, which were not hitherto captured in our penal code law that was last reviewed in 1994.
“The ‘Administration of Criminal Justice and Other Matters Connected Therewith Bill, 2022’ on the other hand, is an upgrade on our criminal procedure code in that it introduces innovative provisions that can enhance the efficiency of the justice system.”
The Chairman, Borno State Justice Sector Reform Team, Justice Haruna Yusuf Mshelia, said the upgraded bills would birth the reform needed to reposition the state to face post-insurgency challenges.
He said, “Borno State is one of the states, if not the only state in Nigeria that is not having congestion in all its correctional facilities. The number of convicted prisoners in our correctional facilities far outweighs the number of awaiting trial inmates, which accounts for the congestion in other states.
“Notwithstanding the above, reform is needed to reposition the state to face post insurgency challenges and cope with the dynamism of a modern society with its emerging new trends of crime and conflicts.”.
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