JUSUN Strike: Suspects’ Relatives, Lawyers Flood Police Stations

As the Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN) continues its strike to press their demand, lawyers and relatives of suspects have flooded police stations to ascertain the condition of detained suspects cooling their heels at police custodies.

The Hope Metro who visited police command’s headquarters along Igbatoro road in Akure yesterday, saw legal practitioners, friends and families of the detained suspects given access by the police to speak with their counsel and relatives.

It was learnt that some of the suspects whose offences range from attempted murder, murder, manslaughter, cult activities, theft, armed robbery, OBT, kidnapping and other crimes that were still under investigation.

Some of the suspects were seen begging for food and money from their relatives and friends who came to visit them.

Investigation revealed that, the police authority had been releasing some suspects whose offences are minor and were being given administrative bail in other to decongest the overcrowding cells.

The nationwide JUSUN strike which began on April 6, was to demand for autonomy of the Judiciary.

It would be recalled that the Nigeria Bar Association, NBA members visited their various state Governors over the two weeks old strike which had paralyzed the activities of courts.

Akpata had directed all state chairmen of the association to lead a peaceful protests on behalf of JUSUN to Government Houses across the nation over their demand for Judiciary autonomy.

A policeman who spoke to The Hope Metro under the condition of anonymity said the police have been granting administrative bail to some suspects whose offences are minor and at the same time bailable.

He said some suspects are already in court but were remanded at police custodies, pending the adjourned date before the strike began.

“Investigative police officers, IPOs, are finding it difficult to feed their suspects currently in the cells and would have no choice than to invite their families.

“The people you are seeing here are coming for their detained relatives and friends.

They usually bring food and money for them to feed pending the time the court resumes. We are all praying so that the Judiciary will resolve the issue at hand and come back to work.

“We are trying to decongest our cells that is almost overcrowded just because we were unable to charge them to court. But those we cannot grant administrative bail are those with serious cases and we don’t have choice than to leave them in the cell,” he stated.

According to him some of the suspects ought to have been released on bail if court are working because some are standing trial on minor cases but those with serious and capital cases like kidnapping, murder and armed robbery would have had speedy trial.

A relative of a suspect whose case was alleged stealing, told The Hope Metro that she was at the police headquarters to solicit for the bail of his brother who was arrested a couple of days ago.

She lamented that she has been coming everyday to buy food for his brother, saying the police promised to grant his brother administrative bail adding that she had spent so much on transportation.

However, suspects with minor cases are now being release to decongest police cells.

The Hope