Being charged to court in Nigeria today is like being led on a road to Golgotha. There is a new wave of pre-trial detentions precipitated by obnoxious, excessive, and prohibitive bail conditions that are akin to treating an accused person as guilty before trial. Some of these conditions appear overlapping and unnecessary. In one court in Nigeria, I counted 21 bail conditions which, with all due respect to the judge who granted the order, even he might find difficult to satisfy within 14 working days if the situation were reversed.
Asking the bank of a surety to verify the surety, requiring a network provider to verify the same surety, and demanding that the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) verify the surety’s National Identification Number (NIN)—when the NIN was used to obtain all the foregoing credentials—is a deliberate ploy to keep citizens, most of whom are poor and vulnerable, in detention for weeks.
These stringent bail conditions create severe economic fallout by forcing indigent suspects into prolonged pre-trial detention. This disrupts employment, destabilises families, causes children to drop out of school, and increases public expenditure on prison upkeep. Unfortunately, we do not adequately account for these costs in this country.
The Federal Government should remove the responsibility for feeding and catering for inmates from the overhead expenditure of courts that issue remand orders. That is the only way to ensure a fair exercise of judicial discretion. The National Judicial Council should also demand quarterly reports from courts detailing the number of citizens on remand and query judges whose courts record excessively high remand rates that contribute to prolonged pre-trial detention.
Lawyers are gradually losing their relevance in bail matters. An oppressed client often prefers to settle a matter at the police station because he is unsure whether he will make it home that day or, in some cases, whether he will leave alive. This situation calls for a national emergency. It is no longer amusing. There are, however, some courts that deserve commendation, such as the Edo State Judiciary, which remains a model of how a criminal justice system should function.
Economically, stringent bail conditions amount to the “criminalisation of poverty” while simultaneously fuelling secondary industries such as commercial bail bondsmen. The economic impacts can be examined across three main areas:
1. Cost to the Individual and Family
Loss of Employment and Income:
Pre-trial detention often results in immediate job loss for defendants, causing a sudden loss of income and leaving dependants without a financial safety net.
Increased Likelihood of Conviction:
Defendants held in custody are generally less able to assist in preparing a strong defence, leading to higher conviction rates and, in many cases, longer prison sentences.
Exploitative Bail Bond Fees:
In areas where bail bondsmen operate, such as Abuja and Lagos, the exorbitant fees paid by families to secure a defendant’s release are sunk costs. Families often liquidate assets, borrow from loan sharks, or exhaust their savings, thereby creating long-term household debt.
2. Fiscal Cost to Government and Society
Prison Overcrowding:
The inability of defendants to meet stringent bail conditions is a major contributor to prison congestion. Maintaining a large population of pre-trial detainees places enormous pressure on already limited public resources.
Lost Economic Productivity:
Removing a segment of the labour force from either the formal or informal economy reduces overall economic productivity and GDP. The state also bears the cost of inmates’ upkeep, using public funds that could otherwise be invested in infrastructure, healthcare, or education.
Resource Misallocation:
Excessive bail requirements result in the inefficient allocation of law enforcement and judicial resources, as the state must devote time and personnel to managing prolonged detentions.
3. Broader Societal and Regional Effects (Nigeria)
Rise of Shadow Industries:
The difficulty of satisfying conditions such as producing senior civil servants as sureties or providing expensive landed property in elite districts like Maitama or Asokoro in Abuja has given rise to a predatory “bail industry.” Professional bondsmen and corrupt officials exploit desperate families, effectively transforming bail into a form of institutionalised extortion or localised ransom.
Deterrence of Legitimate Civic Action:
When imposed on activists, journalists, or public figures, stringent bail conditions may include restrictions such as gag orders or prohibitions against participating in rallies and public gatherings. Such measures undermine freedom of expression and civic participation.
It is important that we change the way we treat indigent citizens. Many Nigerians leave the country through migration because they are uncertain about the outcome of their daily struggles and aspirations, owing largely to what is sometimes a cruel and callous criminal justice system.
Douglas Ogbankwa, Esq. | douglasogbankwa@gmail.com
