RETHINKING PUBLIC COMPENSATION TO CRIME VICTIMS IN NIGERIA’S JURISPRUDENCE: JUSTIFICATIONS AND A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS
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Authors: Prince Pius Imiera
Keywords: crime victims, offenders, compensation, reparation, Nigeria, foreign jurisdictions
Abstract: As it stands today, Nigeria has no crime victims’ compensation or reparation schemes, and there are no laws throughout the thirty-six states of the Federation placing obligations or duties on governments, states or federal to pay compensation to crime victims who suffered crimes of violent nature. Although, crime victims have been instrumental in criminological discourse; they have been forgotten and neglected and therefore denied due recognition in Nigeria. Several nations of the world have moved ahead with time in matters of crime victims’ compensations, Nigeria cannot afford to lag behind in such issue of international dimensions. In this connection, the paper will dissect the need for legislation in Nigeria’s jurisprudence with a view to making statutory provisions for Nigerian citizens who suffered criminal injuries such as murder, rape, robbery, and carjacking, etc as a result of the crime. The paper will further examine the genesis of crime victims’ compensation and its justifications. The paper, in addition, will examine foreign jurisdictions from a comparative point of view for the purposes of advancing legal arguments in support of crime victims’ compensation programs in the administration of criminal justice in Nigeria.