Police Not Solely Responsible For Congestions In Prison — Spokesperson

Nigerians should not blame only the police for the congestion in
correctional centres across Lagos State, Olumuyiwa Adejobi, the
police public relations officer in Lagos State, has said.

Mr Adejobi said in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria
(NAN) on Thursday that apart from the police, seven other
individuals and organisations involved in the Criminal Justice
Administration were also responsible for the congestion found at
the various correctional centres in the state.

“There are the suspect, the complainant, the police, the bar,
the bench, the Directorate of Public Prosecution, the Ministry of
Justice, and the Correctional Centres,’’ said Mr Adejobi, a chief
superintendent of police.

He was reacting to allegations that the police were responsible
for the large number of inmates at the centres because of their
indiscriminate arrests.

Mr Adejobi, however, said that despite the high number of
inmates at the different centres, the command would continue to
perform its constitutional responsibilities.

According to him, the police certainly will perform their
constitutional duties, hand over suspects to court for prosecution
and whatever happens thereafter should not be blamed on the
police.

“The issue of many cases in magistrates and other courts are not
the faults of the police alone.

“The police work is to arrest and when they had established that
a crime had been committed, they (police) will charge such
suspect(s) to court.

“This also extends to a case of ‘two fighting,’ except the
complainant and the offender decide to settle amicably.

“If the complainant wants to take the case further to court, the
police have no fault. They are just performing their duty.

Mr Adejobi, however, cautioned operatives against unprofessional
conduct while carrying out their duties, adding that the command
was devising means of resolving some cases out of court.

On the attack on correctional centres, Mr Adejobi said the
command was tightening security in and around centres located in
Badagry, Ikoyi and Kirikiri to avoid jailbreak. (NAN)

Nigerians should not blame only the police for the congestion in
correctional centres across Lagos State, Olumuyiwa Adejobi, the
police public relations officer in Lagos State, has said.

Mr Adejobi said in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria
(NAN) on Thursday that apart from the police, seven other
individuals and organisations involved in the Criminal Justice
Administration were also responsible for the congestion found at
the various correctional centres in the state.

“There are the suspect, the complainant, the police, the bar,
the bench, the Directorate of Public Prosecution, the Ministry of
Justice, and the Correctional Centres,’’ said Mr Adejobi, a chief
superintendent of police.

He was reacting to allegations that the police were responsible
for the large number of inmates at the centres because of their
indiscriminate arrests.

Mr Adejobi, however, said that despite the high number of
inmates at the different centres, the command would continue to
perform its constitutional responsibilities.

According to him, the police certainly will perform their
constitutional duties, hand over suspects to court for prosecution
and whatever happens thereafter should not be blamed on the
police.

“The issue of many cases in magistrates and other courts are not
the faults of the police alone.

“The police work is to arrest and when they had established that
a crime had been committed, they (police) will charge such
suspect(s) to court.

“This also extends to a case of ‘two fighting,’ except the
complainant and the offender decide to settle amicably.

“If the complainant wants to take the case further to court, the
police have no fault. They are just performing their duty.

Mr Adejobi, however, cautioned operatives against unprofessional
conduct while carrying out their duties, adding that the command
was devising means of resolving some cases out of court.

On the attack on correctional centres, Mr Adejobi said the
command was tightening security in and around centres located in
Badagry, Ikoyi and Kirikiri to avoid jailbreak. (NAN)