Top hierarchies of the judiciary ,security agencies and other key stakeholders have renewed their commitments towards enhancing justice through adherence to the provisions of the Criminal Justice Law (ACJL).
They gave commitment at a workshop organized by a non-governmental organisation, CLEEN Foundation with support from Norwegian government.
Themed : ACJL Capacity Strengthening for Policing/law enforcement and judicial stakeholders, the training had in attendance a senior judges, lawyers, police officers and other security agencies in Ado-Ekiti the Ekiti State capital.
According to the organizers, the workshop is aimed at strengthening inter- agencies collaborations and identifying gaps in the ACJL.
Heads of various security outfits on Ekiti State, including the Commissioner of Police , Joseph Eribo and Chief Justice of Ekiti State,Justice Lekan Ogunmoye attended the programme .
Speaking ,Justice Ogunmoye said the organizers were lucky to have the major anchors in the ACJL in Ekiti at the workshop.
The jury hinted that Ekiti is far ahead of other states in Nigeria with regards to the administration of CJL.
According to the CJ, one of the judges was involved in the drafting , implementation and now ,as adjudicator of the criminal justice law in Ekiti.
In his remarks, CP Eribo said ,if properly implemented the ACJL would reduce crime to the nearest minimum in the society .
The Police Commissioner expressed concern about the spate of sexual related offences in Ekiti , particularly rape and defilement of minors .
He said the command is ready support whatever action that would strengthen the criminal justice system in the state .
In his opening remarks, the foundation’s Director of Programme ,Dr Salaudeen Hashim charged the participants to safeguard human rights by ensuring quick and efficient justice delivery .
Dr Hashim said :
“We have been here for five days ,we used the first two days to train stakeholders on the value chain of criminal justice Law ,for them to understand the operations and gaps in the criminal justice system.
“We have set up working groups to support indicator monitoring and for the implementation of the criminal justice.We must commend the CJ who has graciously agreed to set up administration of Criminal Justice Committee.The ultimate aim is that the novel provisions will be comply with by all actors .
“For us , security and safety is very key .Now that every state is os facing the challenge of insecurity in Nigeria .Over years State security system have proven to be less effective in terms of response in combating crime and criminality .We are setting up some structures across the states that can assist in citizen- driven approach to ensure safety .We believe that if the citizens can organize themselves and come up with a kind of community policing ,the Society will e better .
” This arrangement would help the citizens to detect early warnings and these can be sent to the security agencies for prompt action.What we want our people to understand is that security is everybody’s business .We are hoping that this safety and peace platforms would help the security architectures in the state to combat crime” Dr Hashim said
The program was attended by other top officials of the para- military agencies , members of the Nigeria Bar Association(NBA) , Civil Society Organizations as well as the media.
The organizers promised a far teaching support to the various working groups in their operations.