By Douglas Ogbankwa Esq.
Being charged to court in Nigeria today is like a road to Golgotha. There is a new wave of pre-trial detentions precipitated by obnoxious, excessive, and prohibitory bail conditions that are akin to being seen as guilty before trial. Some of the conditions appear overlapping and unnecessary. In one of the courts in Nigeria, I counted 21 conditions for bail, which, with all due respect to the Judge who granted the order, he cannot meet if the script is flipped within 14 working days.
Asking the bank of the surety to verify the sureties, the network provider of the sureties to verify the sureties, and NIMC to verify the NIN of the sureties — when it was the NIN that was used for all the above — is a deliberate ploy to keep citizens, who are mostly poor and weak, in prison for weeks.
The stringent bail conditions create severe economic fallout by forcing indigent suspects into prolonged pre-trial detention. This disrupts employment, destabilizes families, makes children drop out of school, and drives up public costs for prison upkeep. We do not count the costs in this country.
The Federal Government should take the feeding and catering of prisoners away from the overhead expenditure of the courts that remand them. That is the only way we can have a fair exercise of discretion. The National Judicial Council should also demand quarterly returns from courts on how many citizens are on remand, and query judges who have high remand rates causing pre-trial detentions.
Lawyers are gradually losing their essence in bail matters. An oppressed client prefers to settle the matter at the police station because he is not sure he will make it home that day, or in some cases, make it alive. This calls for a national emergency. It is no longer funny. Though there are still some courts to be commended, like the Edo State Judiciary — it is a model of how a criminal jurisdiction should work.
Economically, it acts as “criminalization of poverty” while fueling secondary industries like commercial bondsmen. The economic impacts can be broken down across three main areas:
1. Cost to the Individual and Family
Loss of Employment and Income: Pre-trial detention results in immediate job loss for many defendants, causing a sudden cessation of income and often leaving dependents without a financial safety net.
Increased Likelihood of Conviction: Defendants held in custody are generally less able to assist in building a strong defense, leading to higher conviction rates and longer subsequent prison sentences.
Exploitative Bail Bond Fees: In areas where bail bondsmen operate, such as Abuja and Lagos, the exorbitant fees paid by families to secure a defendant’s release are sunk costs. Families liquidate assets, borrow from loan sharks, or drain savings, creating long-term household debt.
2. Fiscal Cost to the Government and Society
Prison Overcrowding: The inability of defendants to perfect stringent bail terms is a leading cause of prison congestion. Maintaining a massive population of pre-trial detainees strains already limited state budgets.
Lost Economic Productivity: Removing a segment of the labour force from the formal or informal economy reduces overall GDP. The state also bears the financial burden of inmates’ upkeep, using public funds that could be allocated to infrastructure or education.
Resource Misallocation: Excessive bail requirements cause inefficient allocation of law enforcement and legal resources, as the state must expend time and personnel managing prolonged detentions.
3. Broad Societal and Regional Effects (e.g., Nigeria)
Rise of Shadow Industries: The difficulty in meeting demands — such as producing senior civil servants as sureties or providing expensive landed property titles in upscale neighborhoods like Maitama or Asokoro in Abuja — has birthed a predatory “bail industry.” Professional bondsmen and corrupt officials exploit desperate families, essentially treating bail as a bribe or localized “ransom.”
Deterrence of Legitimate Civic Action: When used against activists or public figures, stringent conditions can impose severe limitations, such as gag orders or bans on participating in rallies, limiting free speech and civic participation. It is important we have a change the way we treat our indigent citizens .Many Nigerians run away from this country ,vide migration , because they are not certain of the outcomes of their daily trajectory , due to Nigeria’s some times cruel and callous criminal justice system.
Douglas Ogbankwa Esq. | @douglasogbankwa@gmail.com
