Office of the Public Defender release 250 underage from prison

The Office of the Public Defender (OPD) said it has released 250 under-age children from prison custody over the last one year. 

“The office secured the release of 150 children last year and 50 children this year,” 

The OPD, a subsidiary under the Lagos State Ministry of Justice said the children were released from prisons, police stations and correction due to the unkind treatment meted out to the children at these facilities across the state.

Mrs Bukola Salami, the OPD Director said the office achieved this feat through an ongoing program sponsored by the United Nations Children's Fund tagged "Children at Conflict with the Law" with the mandate to release  these underage children who have committed one offence or the other.

Salami added that the police was one of the factors leading to children below the age of 18 behind bars because they add to their age and detain them in Police cells or prisons and all know the deplorable state of our cells and prisons.

“Even in the correctional homes meant for children that are beyond parental control, we found children who were in conflict with the law being accommodated here.

Salami said that the OPD was attentive to the socio-economic rights of the poor and vulnerable groups in the society, including women and children in conflict with the law. 

She further added that a training and enlightenment program for the police on how to handle such children was in the pipeline
 

"The police will be empowered as stipulated in the Child Rights Law to restitute and mediate when it comes to cases concerning underage children. Detention should be the last resort.”

Salami said the OPD was attentive to the socio-economic rights of the poor and vulnerable groups in the society, including women and children in conflict with the law

 She said that they would be collaborating with law firms and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) to carry out continuous visits to prisons, police stations and correctional homes to provide legal aid to children in conflict with the law