03/04/2024
As the holy months ( Christian fasting and Muslim Ramadan fasting) come to a joyous end, let's remind ourselves of the virtue of *Patience* or "*walking away from trouble spots"
*DONT KILL YOUR SPOUSE. WALK AWAY!*
My dear brothers and sisters. I trust you are all enjoying the Easter holidays. While we celebrate, please permit me to share something with you. On Wednesday, 27th March, I paid a visit to two correctional centers (call them prisons if you will) located within Ogun State. The visit was made to enable me to assess firsthand the challenges being faced by Officers of the Correctional Service and inmates. I made certain observations that will help the state in coming to a determination as to what interventions it can make to assist. Those observations are, however, not the subject of this message. The issues I want us to draw lessons from now follow.
At the Female Section, I met and interacted with 9 inmates on death row. The male section has over 400 inmates on death row. They are referred to as IDRs (Inmates on Death Row). They had all been tried, convicted, and sentenced to death for capital offenses. My first question was normally “why are you here” and the first three answers I got were identical. It was “I killed my husband”. These female IDRs all painted a picture of domestic violence, which sadly in all their cases resulted in the death of their husbands. The other 6 had similar stories, although the victims were not their partners. I was left wondering why anyone would let matters degenerate to the extent that it would cost lives (the deceased, the perpetrator and in some cases, the children.) Even if the convict is eventually pardoned, can things ever be the same again? Would the children not be affected for the entirety of their lives? Is it not better to walk away from a marriage where violence or the threat of it has become the order of the day? I think society and particularly some of our religious leaders must come to the realisation that not all marriages can or must be saved. Where violence or even emotional torture or abuse is involved, it may be better to advise the parties to go their separate ways. I must mention that there are male IDRs too who were convicted of the murder of their wives.
Another pathetic case I came across was that of a man, his wife, his son, and sister in law who were convicted of murder and sentenced to death! My experience, particularly from what I read in files passed to me for final approval of advice, is that the situations that have taken most inmates to prison and ultimately the Death Row were totally avoidable. How can you explain a situation where two friends would fight because one of them ate an egg from the food of the other, resulting in the death of one? Or a tenant grabbing and squeezing the testicles of her landlord till he collapsed and died all because of a disagreement on some payments due? Or one neighbour killing another in a fit of anger because that neighbour had stoned and killed his (defendant’s) goat? Anger management is important, and we must all learn to keep our cool even in the face of extreme provocation. I do not wish the situation I observed on even an enemy.
On our part, we will continue to do our best to improve the administration of criminal justice. I will return soon to the correctional centres to collect more data on inmates whose trials have taken longer than is acceptable to conclude and make appropriate decisions within the ambit of the law. I wish everyone a happy holiday. God bless us all.
