Juvenile/Youth Justice Management in Nigeria: Making a Case for Diversion Programmes

Abstract

There is a real prospect of a significant increase in the number of children and young people processed through the juvenile/youth justice system in Nigeria. Yet, both community-and institutionally-based structures for juvenile/youth justice management are grossly inadequate and have led to 'crisis' conditions. Several countries in sub-Saharan Africa are either in the middle of, or have concluded, sweeping changes in their youth/juvenile justice systems. A common feature of these reforms is the strengthening of diversion programmes. Drawing on the lessons generated by such initiatives, this article makes various recommendations towards advancing juvenile/youth justice policy and practice in Nigeria with a particular emphasis on diversion programmes.

Prison health situation and health rights of young people incarcerated in sub-Saharan African prisons and detention centres: a scoping review of extant literature

“…The process of transfer of young people to the facility was observed to be lengthy and protracted. In 2013 in Nigeria, Atilola reported overcrowding at the youth detention centres (known as ‘borstal homes’ [66]. This was also observed by Stout in 2001 in Lesotho youth detention centres [67].…”

“…In 14 SSA countries (Zambia, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Togo, Burundi, Ghana, Lesotho, Côte d’Ivoire, Chad, Nigeria, Malawi, Somalia, Benin and Mozambique), evidence from studies, human rights organizations and investigative journalism reports in the timeframe 2000 to 2017observe that young people in conflict with the law are detained and incarcerated in dilapidated, substandard and inhumane physical environments, with poor ventilation, inadequate or non-existent lighting and severe overcrowding [29, 35–37, 66–68, 74, 76–84]. In 2012, commenting on the state of prison infrastructure described as old and dilapidated, a Mozambican boy said “… As paredes estâo cansadas’ [The walls are tired]…” [84].…”

“…Conditions were characterized by insufficient, overflowing, non-functional toilets and bathing facilities with some water points close to sanitation outflows, and bathing buckets sometimes used as toilet facilities in the night. This was reported from 2001 to 2017 in Zambia, Sierra Leone, Mauritania, Central African Republic, Mali, Guinea-Bissau, Comoros, Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Tanzania, Madagascar, Swaziland, Cape Verde, Malawi, Mozambique, Uganda, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Burundi, Lesotho, Côte d’Ivoire, Chad, Benin, Togo, Somalia and Eritrea [35, 39–41, 43, 46–53, 56, 57, 59–62, 65, 66, 68, 69, 71, 75, 79–81]. Such poor sanitation and hygiene was reported to exacerbate the spread and prevalence of body lice, scabies or other skin infections, respiratory complaints, diseases, diarrhoea and other preventable diseases [37, 46, 69, 77].…”

Lifetime exposure to traumatic events among adolescents in contact with the Nigerian juvenile justice systems compared with a comparison group of secondary school students

“…This is one of the reasons for the ongoing global effort to find alternatives to incarceration (diversion programmes) in juvenile justice practice. 42 Apart from the high level of pre-contact exposure to traumatic events, recording the level of exposure to traumatic events amongst those in juvenile justice institutions should provide further impetus to the call for alternatives to incarceration in Nigeria, 19,21 further research is called for.…”

“…15 Furthermore, juvenile justice systems in sub-Saharan Africa are still evolving, 16,17 still incline heavily towards detention, and are yet to be fully separated from social welfare systems. 18,19 Consequently, both victims of maltreatment/neglect and offenders are detained together in the same facility, 18,19 the former for protection, the latter for reformation. This suggests that the definition and composition of juvenile justice 'inmates' in the region are different from what obtains in developed countries.…”