Justice delayed is no justice at all. When victims face prolonged sentences without trial, what do we make of such judgements? The case of the six Endsars protesters who faced trial almost four years after their incarceration makes us question, do citizens have exclusive access to justice in Nigeria? For a case where the victims would have been fined 15,000 naira or 3 months imprisonment, these youths have spent almost 4 years in prison and we say justice have been served?
Six protesters of the 2020 Endsars protest have regained their freedom after being incarcerated for four years. The judgment was delivered by Magistrate Bola Osunsanmi of the Chief Magistrate’s Court sitting in Ikeja area of Lagos state.
The defendants, Daniel Joyinbo (31); Adigun Sodiq (28); Kehinde Shola (32); Salaudeen Kamilu (29); Sodiq Usseni (33); and Azeez Isiaka (34), had entered a plea bargain agreement and pleaded guilty to the charge of breaching public peace, as brought against them by the Lagos State Government.
Upon reviewing the plea bargain, Magistrate Osunsanmi found the defendants guilty of the offense. They were however cautioned and discharged after noting that they had already spent almost four years in custody.
According to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Dr Babajide Martins, the defendants committed the offense on November 23, 2020, at 12:00 p.m. in Ebutte Metta, Lagos. Their actions were likely to cause a breach of public peace, an offense that contravenes Section 168(d) of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015. He then urged the court to sentence the defendants based on their plea.
In response, the defendant’s legal counsel, T.D. Ojeshino pleads leniency for the defendants as they were first time offenders, some of whom were breadwinners of their families.
The remanding of the six protesters on a case of alleged breach of public peace for almost four years before trial is quite shocking. According to section 249(d) of the criminal code act in Nigeria,
‘Every person who, in any public place, conducts himself in a manner likely to cause a breach of peace, shall be deemed an idle and disorderly person and may be arrested without warrant, and are guilty of a simple offense and liable to imprisonment for one month.’
Under section 168(d) of the Criminal Law of Lagos state, 2015, stipulates three months punishment or a fine of N15,000.
