Idris Okuneye, also known as Bobrisky, a popular Nigerian cross-dresser, was sentenced to 6 months in prison for Naira mutilation and abuse.
On April 12, he was given the maximum sentence without bail despite being a first-time offender and pleading guilty to a non-violent misdemeanour.
The Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) filed a six-count charge against him on April 4.
According to EFCC, Bobrisky abused a cumulative sum of N400,000 while dancing at those social events. At those different social events, Bobrisky wrongly handled the Naira by spraying different bundles of Naira ranging from N20,000 to N50,000 in different denominations of the Naira.
In Nigeria, ‘spraying’ money means throwing cash gifts at a praise singer or one’s dance mates in a celebratory mood. It arose from the local culture of gifting praise singers and musicians money during festivals and celebrations.
Bobrisky was said to have committed the offence on three occasions: an event on March 24, 2024, and others in 2022 and 2023.
The offence breaches Section 21 (1) of the Central Bank Act of 2007 and Section 19 of the Money Laundering Act of 2022. The maximum sentence for this offence is six months in prison.
Bobrisky was never charged nor arrested in 2022 or 2023 but was charged and arrested after the event on March 24 and sentenced.
Bobrisky’s case exposes the vulnerabilities of the Nigerian criminal justice system and the need for improvement in administering criminal justice in Nigeria.
Risk 1: Recidivism
The first risk is that minor offenders like Bobrisky may turn out more deviant after they serve their short but traumatic time in prison.
Last December, the Attorney General of the Federation, Prince Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, exhorted Judges to desist from remanding minor offenders in prison.
“Today, we have seen countless cases where defendants are arrested for minor offences and locked up in prisons, adding to the population of awaiting trial inmates.
“These offenders remanded with hardened criminals end up being initiated into a life of crime instead of being reformed,” the AGF said.
Putting an otherwise law-abiding citizen who committed a misdemeanour like Bobrisky in prison custody, among clearly criminal minds needing more invasive renovation, poses grave danger to the minor offender and the society as a whole when the minor offender exits the prison more hardened.
In a case like Bobrisky’s, a first-time offender who pleaded guilty to a charge that could be described as petty and commonplace, a non-custodial sentence would be more advisable to ensure he is properly integrated back into society.
There is a high risk that Bobrisky, like other incarcerated minor offenders, innocent children and citizens awaiting trial, will come out of Ikoyi Prisons with a predisposition to devalue things more costlier than some already devalued Nigerian currency.
Risk 2: Reversal of Correctional Policy
The second risk in putting an offender like Bobrisky in prison custody is that it smacks of a policy reversal on corrections.
To reduce the congestion of inmates in Nigerian prisons, the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS) recently resolved to resort more to non-custodial supervision.
“Secondly, we are diversifying to the use of non-custodial measures, which does not require the offender to serve imprisonment; this measure is used for offenders with less serious crimes.
“The offender is mandated to serve the punitive measure in the community, under the supervision of correctional officials known as non-custodial officers,” the NCoS Spokesman Abubakar Umar said earlier in the month.
Mr Umar added: “Other measures we are employing to curtail the spate of overcrowding of our facilities include proper synergy with the courts and stakeholders for regular jail delivery exercises, clemency, and facilitating bails.”
However, neither non-custodial supervision nor clemency was applied to correct Bobrisky’s misdemeanour.
Although Nigeria has started implementing Non-Custodial Sentencing, it is still less prevalent than Custodial sentencing.
Data from the NCos shows that in 99.5% of cases, the accused served a custodial sentence, while only 0.5% served a Non-Custodial Sentence.
Hitherto, the common verdict has been custodial sentencing, even for simple and petty offences. This contributes significantly to overcrowding in Nigerian custodial facilities.
This could have contributed to the spike in prison population from 62,388 inmates in 2020 to 77,934 as of April 1, 2024, after the reduction in 2018.
According to PRAWA, “Non-custodial sentencing is a punitive measure for offenders, especially in relation to simple and petty offences.”
When an accused person is charged to court and found guilty of an offence, the judge can, in delivering judgment, prescribe a non-custodial sentence depending on the individual in question (consider if such a person is a habitual offender) and the gravity of the offence. This serves as an alternative to a prison sentence.
The sentence could be to pay a fine, probation, parole, community service and/or restorative justice. Many times, custodial officers supervise them. This is mostly for simple and petty offences.
The provisions for Non-Custodial sentencing is contained in the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) 2015 and the Nigerian Correctional Service Acts 2019.
According to the UN Standard Minimum Rules for Non-Custodial Measures (The Tokyo Rules), “the non-custodial sentence will promote greater community involvement in the management of criminal justice, specifically in the treatment of offenders, as well as to promote among offenders a sense of responsibility towards society.”
Risk 3: Rowdy Prisons
Unnecessary remand of minor offenders like Bobrisky in prison adds to the many problems inmates face in an overcrowded correctional facility.