Niger State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Barr Nasir Mua’zu, has clarified that the recent withdrawal of non-lawyer police prosecutors from Magistrate and Shariah Courts is simply the enforcement of existing laws, specifically the Administration of Criminal Justice Law and the Police Act 2020.
The state Chief Judge, Justice Halima Abdulmalik, had last week issued a circular through the Chief Registrar of the Niger State High Court, Hajiya Amina Laminde Musa Saidu, directing the Police Legal Department to withdraw police prosecutors without law degrees from prosecuting cases, with immediate effect.
Mua’zu explained that this directive was not new, as the Chief Judge had earlier warned stakeholders six months ago to comply with the directive.
“What is being done is simply to give effect to the Administration of Criminal Justice Law and the Police Act 2020, which restrict prosecution to qualified lawyers,” he noted.
He added that the Ministry of Justice plans to fill the gap by deploying lawyers to magistrate courts, starting with major towns like Minna, Bida, Kontagora, and Suleja.
According to him, “These laws may seem harsh now, but in the end, they will improve the administration of criminal justice in Niger State. Before now, the police were prosecuting cases in more than 200 courts across the state, with some courts having up to two police prosecutors. Suddenly withdrawing all of them poses a major challenge for the ministry.”
However, the Chairman of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Minna Branch, Isyaku Barau, Esq., expressed concerns that the directive barring non-lawyer police prosecutors from Magistrate and Shariah Courts may slow down criminal justice administration in Niger State.
He argued that many pending cases were being handled by these prosecutors and will now face delays due to the shortage of qualified lawyers in the Niger State Police Command and the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) office.
Barau appealed to the Chief Judge and the state government to address the issue, citing the interests of justice and the rights of defendants awaiting trial in the state.
