According to the maid, she had gone to the market and had been charmed by a man in the market. Under the hypnotic charm of this stranger in the market, she had returned to the house and was directed (presumably by remote control) to the location of the items she stole. She claimed that she had given the items to the man and had no idea who he was nor his current whereabouts. But why did the maid confess to that? It could be that she hoped that she would tell a story and just get the sack rather than run away and have the police and her boss on her tail. I doubt that there was any positive intention in making a clean breast of it with her boss. If the maid and her gang had been successful with such operations in the past, this time she met the wrong one. The police got involved. The maid insisted that she had no idea where the items were and came up with even more stories as to how it came about that she took the items from her boss. Stealing is a criminal offence, which is of general concern to the public. The State, therefore, prosecutes criminal offences. The State decides which matters to take to court and State lawyers handle the matter on behalf of the victim and the State. Ordinarily, there should be no cost to the victim of a crime in getting justice through the courts but in practice, the victim bears some cost from the police investigation to the prosecution of the case. Everybody needs to be mobilised to do what they are supposed to do. On the one hand, you can understand that the State machinery for justice is poorly funded, but as you can imagine, the effect is that the victim suffers twice. The victim in this case is undeterred. Even though her aunt, who has also been a victim of such theft, and her sister have told her that it is not worth the trouble, she insists on pursuing the matter to its conclusion in court. The accused thief still has no remorse. She insists that she was charmed and that the victim is a very wicked woman for taking the matter to police. Obviously, Kirikiri prison and court appearances have not broken her yet. The lawyer for the accused approached the victim offering to return a sum of money if the charges were dropped. The victim rejected this offer. Unfortunately, the procedure for instituting criminal proceedings can be arduous. Dealing with the court system is not for the faint of heart. Matters can drag on for years and as already mentioned, the victim, even in a criminal offence, bears some cost on top of the loss already suffered from the actual offence. But the point of prosecuting crimes or instituting civil claims is not only to bring wrongdoers to account for their actions, it also helps to deter others from bad behaviour. It may be impossible to make a victim whole again put knowing that the perpetrator of a crime against them has been found guilty by a court of law serves as vindication for the victim. The knowledge of the consequences of our actions keeps us within the boundaries of good behaviour. If there are no consequences, the bad guy has nothing to fear and gets bolder in his criminal acts. On the other side of the problem coin is the lack of confidence of victims in a system that takes years to vindicate their rights. Our system definitely needs some restructuring and reform, to achieve speedy justice. There is the saying that justice delayed is justice denied. It is not only in the interest of the victim but also in the interest of the accused for justice to be swift. For the accused, the right to a fair trial is at stake. As time passes, memories fade, people die, people relocate, investigating officers are transferred, etc. All of this can affect the accused’s ability to mount a proper defence against the charges. Court systems everywhere have had to deal with the pressures on the system. Some have developed fast-track, funnel systems aimed at reducing the amount of time from commencement of proceedings in a matter to its conclusion. But it takes political and administrative will to make these changes. With our legal profession in Nigeria so averse to change, it might take a while before we see any appreciable drop in the time it takes for matters to be concluded. But I urge you, if you can, to stay the course if you are a party in a matter. Assist the prosecution as far as possible and show up in court. Do it for the good of society.]]>
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Authored by Ben Ijeoma Adigwe Esq., ACiarb (UK), LL.M, Dip. in Artificial Intelligence, Director at the Delta State Ministry of Justice, Asaba, Nigeria.
