{"id":73317,"date":"2025-08-15T16:08:21","date_gmt":"2025-08-15T16:08:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/?p=73317"},"modified":"2025-08-15T16:08:21","modified_gmt":"2025-08-15T16:08:21","slug":"panel-calls-for-overhaul-of-nigerias-non-custodial-justice-system","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/2025\/08\/15\/panel-calls-for-overhaul-of-nigerias-non-custodial-justice-system\/","title":{"rendered":"Panel Calls for Overhaul of Nigeria\u2019s Non-Custodial Justice System"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>By Anifowoshe Oladipupo<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>An investigative panel has called for sweeping reforms to Nigeria\u2019s non-custodial justice system as part of efforts to tackle severe overcrowding in the nation\u2019s correctional facilities.<\/p>\n<p>Speaking at a recent public hearing in Abuja, the Independent Investigative Panel on Alleged Corruption identified major gaps in the use of alternatives to imprisonment, such as fines, probation, and community service.<\/p>\n<p>Panel Secretary, Dr. Uju Agomoh, noted that thousands of low-risk offenders remain behind bars simply because they cannot pay relatively small fines, in some cases as low as \u20a610,000.<\/p>\n<p>While commending the Minister of Interior, Dr. Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, for raising \u20a6585 million to secure the release of more than 4,000 inmates last December, the panel urged the ministry to provide a detailed breakdown of the initiative.<\/p>\n<p>The panel also criticized the absence of dedicated government funding for non-custodial services despite existing legal provisions.<\/p>\n<p>It directed the Nigerian Correctional Service to submit comprehensive data on its budget, staffing, and strategic plans for implementing these underused measures.<\/p>\n<p>According to the panel, adopting more humane and cost-effective justice options is critical to reducing the pressure on Nigeria\u2019s overcrowded prison system.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Anifowoshe Oladipupo An investigative panel has called for sweeping reforms to Nigeria\u2019s non-custodial justice system as part of efforts to tackle severe overcrowding in the nation\u2019s correctional facilities. Speaking at a recent public hearing in Abuja, the Independent Investigative Panel on Alleged Corruption identified major gaps in the use of alternatives to imprisonment, such [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":32,"featured_media":73318,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1386,172],"tags":[59],"class_list":["post-73317","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-judiciary","category-news","tag-featured"],"aioseo_notices":[],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73317","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/32"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=73317"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73317\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":73319,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73317\/revisions\/73319"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/73318"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=73317"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=73317"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=73317"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}