By our reporter
The Attorney General and Commissioner of justice, Ebonyi State, Dr. Ben Odoh, has said, ” The theme of the conference is getting it Right, which implies been lawful in a lawful society because we have been getting it wrong in a lawful society and I believe at the end of the conference all of us will go out Chatting the course of Nigeria’s Nation Building.”
The Commissioner disclosed this information at the NBA Conference in Abuja.
He asserted, ” The aim is to galvanize lawyers to effective play their role in the building of a nation that all of us will be proud of.”
Speaking further, Dr. Odoh advocated for a paradigm shift from prevalent retributive justice system to restorative justice system, whereby criminal defendants are reintegrated into society after serving their jail terms, instead of stigmatization in Ebonyi State.
His words: “The justice system we have in Nigeria is a one-way traffic justice system. It is a justice system that uses two approaches in crime management, including punishment and vengeance. Our justice system uses vengeance to dispose or manage crime.”
Adding, “If the Nigeria justice system is not using vengeance, it is using punishment in crime management. It is not after the welfare of a victim of crime.”
He reiterated, “For example, if someone disposses you of your phone, our law, especially in Ebonyi, is after arresting that person that dispossessed you of your phone. After the arrest, arraign him in court. After the arraignment, try him. After the trial, convict him. After convicting him, sentence him to prison. Our law is not after what happens to you/ the victim or your phone that was stolen.”
He emphasised, “So, once that person that dispossessed you of your phone is arrested and jailed, he can go to prison with your phone.”
He frowned, “Our law is not after how to return your stolen phone to you, while the thief goes to face the law or imprisonment. So, it is a one-way traffic justice system that is after an accused, using punishment and vengeance in the management of crime. It has no remedy for the victim of a crime.”
He stressed, “At the Ebonyi State Ministry of Justice, we are intentionally creating a paradigm shift from this retributive justice system, which is a one-way traffic justice system, to restorative justice system, which is a three-way traffic justice system.”
Adding, “The beauty of this restorative justice system is that, instead of using two approaches, that is punishment and vengeance, in crime management, it is going to be providing four approaches in crime management, including Restoration, Reconciliation, Restitution and Reintegration.”
He added, ” We are planning to build Ebonyi prison farm where victims of mini offence will be send there to go and farm when they come out we give them money to start their own farming so that they will not go and steal in somebody farm again.”
The Commissioner stated that they also created Ebonyi State Citizen Mediation Center mainly for Ebonyi State Citizen who have a case but don have money to pay for lawyer, “They will go there and resolve their issue free of charge without paying anything.”
