The Centre for Social-Legal Studies (CSLS) on Tuesday organised a capacity-building training for rangers tasked with championing the reform of the Nigerian criminal justice system.
The participants are to see to the efficient implementation of the provisions of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) in federal courts and the Administration of Criminal Justice Laws (ACJLs) of various states of the federation.
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Emphasising the importance of the workshop, the President of the CSLS, Yemi Akinseye-George, noted that the centre was concerned with “raising a new generation of young Nigerians and lawyers who will continue to advance the campaign for a reformed criminal justice system in the country.”
Rangers are those who volunteer to support and to speak in favour of the proper implementation of the ACJA and ACJL, Mr Akinseye-George said.
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He said the role is not limited to just lawyers but others, including civil servants, members of the civil society, the media and court officials.
“We are here to advance the rule of law, to advance proper implementation of the ACJA and the ACJL of the various states.
“We are here to push for the implementation of the National Minimum Standards (NMS) for the effective implementation of the ACJA, but we cannot do that alone.”
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He noted that the centre is working to include all stakeholders in advocating for the proper implementation of the ACJA and against the tide of perpetrators of disorderliness in society for a progressive society.
Mr Akinseye-George, who is a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), explained that the previously trained rangers contributed their quota to the proper implementation of the ACJA and the ACJL across the country,
About 100 rangers were trained on Tuesday.
One of the participants, Seline Bala, who is a member of the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA) and attended as a legal professional, expressed optimism that the workshop would address issues of concern, particularly compensation.
Oyinloye Okpajobe, a facilitator and member of the organising team for the workshop, noted that the centre is interested in targeting more rangers. The centre currently has almost 1,000 rangers, “we want to grow that because 1,000 is not enough.”
“We have over 200 million Nigerians. So, if we want to reach them, we need more people.”
While speaking to the new rangers, a legal expert, Kelvin Mejulu, cautioned that they were not to serve as police but as change agents to support the criminal justice system.
Call for digitisation of courtrooms
Mr Mejulu, who served as a facilitator at the training, also called for the digitisation of court systems in Nigeria.
He said, “We need to advocate for the full digitisation of the court system to do away with trial de novo.”
Since 2025, there has been a clamour for the digitisation of the courtrooms to address backlogs of cases.
Both the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, John Tsoho, and the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) President, Afam Osigwe, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), had made similar calls.
During Tuesday’s capacity building, Mr Mejulu also urged “lawyers and stakeholders do away with practices that are not helping our criminal justice system.” One of these practices is trial-within-trial.
He also reminded lawyers to act as prosecutors rather than persecutors, while defence lawyers should ensure that their clients have fair trials in court.
National Minimum Standard
Sharon Jibanniya, a facilitator at the training, stressed the benefits of ACJA, and urged compliance with the National Minimum Standard (NMS) in the legislation.
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She said there was a need for a collaborative effort between the Ministry of Justice, CSOs and development partners to improve the implementation of the ACJA and ACJLs across Nigeria.
Ms Jibanniya noted that the NMS was compiled so that no state would fall below in the implementation of the ACJA and the ACJLs, and for the purpose of uniformity across all states.
Some NMS practices include pre-trial issues, dealing with interlocutory proceedings, use of remands, confessional statements, front loading, case management and plea-bargaining.
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