Effectiveness of the criminal justice system in tackling the menace of jungle justice in Nigeria

Abstract

Justice is a right that accrues to all and sundry by virtue of being a human. For justice to be achieved in any human society, the Criminal Justice System (CJS) must be well structured to adequately achieve its aim of justice. In Nigeria in the last decade, jungle justice seems to have unseat the rule of law in Nigeria. Events prevalent in recent times seem to suggest that a section of the Nigerian society no longer places value on human life. Lives of many people have been taken on the slightest provocation and it is becoming more alarming by the day. The development is a reflection and evidence of loss of confidence in the criminal justice system and the rule of law. The paper relied on primary and secondary sources of information and data from these sources were subjected to content analysis. The paper examined the significance of the rule of law and its implications in a society like Nigeria, the position of the law and the prevalence of jungle justice in Nigeria as well as the human rights perspective to jungle justice. The paper also discussed the effectiveness of the CJS in Nigeria, particularly, the key institutions of the CJS. The paper discovered that CJS in Nigeria is not effective and the citizenry no longer have confidence in the CJS, hence the increase in the incidence of Jungle justice. The paper recommends an overhauling of the entire CJS.