A CRITICAL APPRAISAL OF THE RIGHTS OF WITNESSES AND COMPENSATION OF VICTIMS UNDER THE NIGERIAN CRIMINAL JURISPRUDENCE

Abstract

The criminal Justice System of Nigeria has so much protection on the rights of the
accused/defendant. From the time of his arrest to his arraignment and even during the proceedings,
the accused/defendant enjoys varieties of protection including his presumption of innocence until
the contrary is proved. Overtime witness protection has also been given some kind of attention.
However, the problem lies with victim compensation. Victims of crimes suffer a lot of harms
including being traumatized, sustaining physical injuries, experiencing financial losses incurred
during the trial as they serve as prosecution witnesses. They are not usually well compensated at
the end of the trial. As a result, they feel that justice is somehow one sided since at the end of the
trial, the state is happy and satisfied that the offender is sentenced, however the victim who suffered
most of the harms gets little or no compensation at all. This paper therefore examines the rights of
witnesses and the compensation of victims of crimes in Nigerian criminal justice system with the
aim of analyzing the availability or otherwise of the legal framework for protecting victims of crimes
and the adequacy of compensation given, if any. The paper finds that victim compensation has not
been given paramount consideration in Nigeria just like other foreign countries that have provided
avenues and laws to guide victim compensation. The paper proffers some recommendations to
encourage a more victim centered justice system in Nigeria.