Restorative Justice in Nigeria
The restorative justice infrastructure in Afikpo in eastern Nigeria evolved from the culture’s family structure and primary community groupings. It provides cost-free participatory and effective justice to local populations sometimes far removed from state-sponsored institutions of justice. Several indigenous bodies carry out restorative justice in Nigeria: the Elders Ad-Hoc tribunal, the Okpota General Assembly, and the two traditional courts (one managed by the junior age sub-grade, the Ekpuke Eto age-grade, and the other by the middle and senior age sub-grade, the Ekpuke Essa age-grade).
The Elders Ad-Hoc Tribunal convenes whenever a plaintiff comes forward or the elders feel a meeting is necessary to settle a local dispute before it disrupts community cohesion. It has no formal structure and does not belong to any official system of local administration. One advantage of this tribunal is its swiftness at providing a ruling since it is generally used when a conflict requires immediate resolution and cannot wait for the state-sponsored courts to convene. This, though, can be a disadvantage if it means that disputants do not have enough time to prepare their case for review. Another advantage is that the members of the court have no specific affiliation with Afikpo groupings and are therefore, ideally, impartial.
The Okpota General Assembly acts as the supreme court of the land that deals with last appeals and security issues within the community. All Afikpo adult males can participate in meetings of the General Assembly and all the component villages of Afikpo must be represented for the Assembly to convene. The Okpota enacts the decrees and laws of the community but also deals with inter-communal or group disputes, murder cases (especially when involving neighboring communities), and cases of corruption of traditional court judges. Disputants present their cases to the Assembly, after which the cases are thoroughly debated and discussed. General agreement is required among the Assembly members before a case can be officially decided.
The traditional courts review cases that the two above-mentioned indigenous conflict resolution bodies cannot resolve. The two courts sit simultaneously on market day every four days. The judges of the court are members of the two age sub-grades, the Ekpuke Eto age-grade (junior age sub-grade, men in their fifties and early sixties) and the Ekpuke Essa age-grade (the senior age sub-grade, men in their mid-sixties and above). The Ekpuke Essa court acts as both a legislative and judicial body. As a judicial body, it handles cases of debt, inheritance, thefts, assaults, and witchcraft. The plaintiff initiates the proceedings by making a donation of money to the court. The court then contacts the defendant and sets up a court date, if the defendant accepts to go to trial. Both parties first present their side of the conflict to the court, then call witnesses to corroborate their testimony. The court must reach a consensus on the course of action to take. Once the court has made a decision, the defendant and the plaintiff must both accept it by giving a second donation of money. The Ekpuke Eto court has a similar function and management structure as the Ekpuke Essa, but enforces the rulings of both its judges and those of the senior court. Furthermore, the Ekpuke Eto specializes in handling cases of landlord/tenant conflicts, petty theft, fraud and pyramid scheme offenses, and other business related conflicts. Overall, the traditional courts aim to vindicate the victim but also to reconcile victim and offender.
Oko O. Elechi