Friday, May 3, 2013

Lagos govt set to prosecute arrested kidnappers May 16

LAGOS State government has concluded processes to prosecute the first set of  kidnappers arrested in Lagos State, to sound a note of warning to others that the act will not be tolerated in Lagos.
The State Attorney-General (AG) and Commissioner for Justice, Ade Rahman Ipaye, made this known on Thursday, during the monthly media briefing of his ministry on criminal justice administration in the state.
The AG stated that the arrested kidnappers would be arraigned before a court to face criminal trial on May 16.
He added that he was going to personally take charge of the prosecution of the kidnappers because of the concern and importance the government attached to the security of the people of the state.
The AG, however, did not give the names of the victims for security reasons and due to the fact that they would be appearing in court as witnesses for the prosecution.
According to him, the state security council meeting, which held on Wednesday, lamented the increase in kidnap cases, but expressed happiness that kidnappers were being arrested in Lagos.
The commissioner said there was need for people to be careful of who they associated with, pointing out that findings showed that most victims were given away by those who were close to them.
“I want to assure the public that Lagos State is one place where kidnappers are actually being arrested. We are giving the police and all other security agencies full support and this is yielding results. In the next few days, you will see me in court with the first set of persons accused of kidnapping and this will be a continuous exercise,” he assured.
The AG further said the state government was sustaining its effort on prison decongestion by avoiding delay of trials, which he noted were caused by the delay in issuing legal advice and deciding whether or not there was enough evidence to commence prosecution.
The government, he said, was seeking to advance the prison decongestion through monitoring of its community service unit, adding that in  April, a total of 202 community service cases were completed.
This, he said brought the total number of completed community service cases from inception to 1,356, adding that the office of the Director for Public Prosecution (DPP) concluded and obtained judgement in 13 cases between January and March.
Ipaye further disclosed that the court sentenced two of the defendants to death; five were discharged and acquitted, while the remaining six defendants were sentenced to prison terms ranging between five and 25years.
He said in furtherance of the commitment of the government to promotion of law and order, the Office of the Public Defender (OPD), Citizens Mediation Centre (CMC),  Directorate for Citizens’ Right (DCR) and Public Advice Centre (PAC) have continued to offer free and qualitative legal services to the people of the state.
He said these had  helped in avoidance and resolution of conflicts, as well as in strengthening the relationship between the public and government.
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