NHRC calls for community service as punishment for crimes
The National Human Rights Commission has called for revision of the nation’s legal system where some criminals are made to do community service instead of being thrown to prison. This will reduce prison congestion and further engender community growth. Speaking at the Human Rights Monitoring Sensitization of Stakeholders on Decriminalization of Petty Offences in Maiduguri, the Executive Secretary of National Human Rights Commission, Tony Ojukwu, lamented that there are a lot of vulnerable people in detention camps, many detained for minor and petty offences which could have been avoided if stakeholders put in place other laws or alternative instead of putting offenders in prison. Ojukwu, who was represented by by the Commission’s Director, Women, Children and Vulnerable Groups, said: “We felt that there was the need to talk to all those involved in the legal and judiciary processes, those in the legislature, judiciary and the executive like the police that actually made the arrest whe