Nonfunctional prison facilities hamper dispensation of justice —Dickson

Bayelsa State governor, Mr.  Seriake Dickson, has identified the absence of functional prison services as one of the factors militating against the quick dispensation of justice in the country.
Receiving the visiting Minister of Interior, Comrade Abba Moro, who was in Yenagoa, yesterday,  for the commissioning of the state prisons, Dickson blamed the delay in dispensation of justice and congestion of the prisons across the country on inadequate facilities.
Assuring the minister of his administration’s support, Dickson said  that the presence of a functional Prisons Service in the state would, to a large extent, ensure the speedy dispensation of justice, especially in the aspect of criminal justice as well as reduce the cost of litigation.
 He said: “The delay in the dispensation of justice to prisoners in the state was occasioned by the absence of  a federal prison in the state as its indigenes had to be transferred to Ahoada Prisons in Rivers State, which posed challenges for litigation and transportation.
“Without a federal prison, the infrastructure of a justice administration system, particularly that of the criminal justice system, is not complete and we in Bayelsa, over the years, have had that problem. So, I thank the Federal Government for the decision to establish a federal prison in the state.
“Before now, as you rightly said,  our Awaiting Trial Inmates and those who have to be detained or kept in custody for one reason or another are usually taken to other places of detention outside Bayelsa State. That meant a lot of inconvenience and cost to them and their relations as well as created a lot of problems for their legal representatives.”