The inaugural forum was held on Thursday 20th September, 2012 at the Police Superior Officers Mess. Enugu. Its objective of was to Improve communication and facilitate joint-working and cooperation between the Ministry Of Justice Enugu and Nigeria Police Force Enugu State Command.

It attracted the Commissioner of Police (COP), Enugu State Mr. Musa Daura and 72 officers including 6 Assistant Commissioners of Police from different units, the Honorable Attorney General (HAG), Enugu State Barrister Anthony Ani, Director of Public Prosecution Barrister Victor Emeribe, Secretary Permanent Secretary and over 12 Prosecutors from the Ministry of Justice. Representative of the Executive Director Dr. Uju Agomoh and other key staff of PRAWA were also present.

Opening the forum, the Attorney General thanked Justice for All J4A and PRAWA for proposing the joint meeting and thanked the Nigeria Police Force NPF for accepting the invitation. He stated that criminal investigation is the foundation of criminal trial and prosecution adding that the pillars are managed by two exclusive organizations; the Ministry Of Justice for prosecution and Nigerian Police Force for criminal investigation.

He noted that cases are won and lost during investigation and at a look at the case file. Cases are quashed in the court of law, when there is no sufficient evidence to prosecute them. He advised on the need for proper investigation of cases and sufficient evidence in the case file, to enable proper prosecution, which will serve as deterrent to criminals.

He disclosed that the aim of the meeting was to examine the strengths of the stakeholders as different agencies, to establish a protocol between the two agencies, and to encourage a solid interface between the prosecutors and investigators. He went further to encourage the prosecutors and investigators in the NPF to contact the MOJ, should they have any issues during investigation and prosecution at the magistrate court. He stated that with the CMS Unit installed by J4A, they will be able to give accurate information about the stage of any case/case file. He encouraged the NPF to utilize theirs as this is a good platform for communication in the criminal justice system of Enugu state and assured the NPF of his ministry’s maximum support in the quest to make Enugu State safe for all good citizens.

In his response, the Commissioner of Police thanked the Attorney General for extending the invitation to him and other police officers and assured that the police are after justice and fairness in the course of their duties. He added that the NPF Enugu Command intends to take good steps to bring peace, security and justice in the state, and hope that they become an example to other states. The NPF team, according to him, will work closely with the Ministry of Justice in order to carry out their duties diligently. He acknowledged that there are lapses in the investigation department, which will be worked on and promised that the Nigerian Police Force will not let the Ministry of Justice down.

Highlights of the forum include the extensive interactive session where the Nigeria Police Force and Ministry of Justice key personnel exchanged ideas and discussed critical areas of challenges in the cross sectoral handling of criminal justice in Enugu State. Some of the areas discussed and clarified include: In solving a criminal matter, there are three (3) interest areas mainly: Interest of the state, Interest of justice and Interest of the accused person.

The forum recognized that defense lawyers’ sometimes fail to recognize the interest of the state and that of justice. The magistrates on the other hand always rely on Section 167 of the Criminal Procedure Law of Enugu state (CPL), which allows a matter to be dismissed if the complainant is not in court, not minding the reason why the victim of the crime did not attend court. This could be because the victim has been threatened and the absence of a Witness Protection Act fuels the situation. Also, most of the witnesses lack logistics to attend courts. The officer urged that the AG advises the members of the Bench, to be mindful of the interest of the State and Justice and not to use technicalities to dismiss cases.

Also issues like: Cases delayed due to transfer of IPOs who lack the logistics to come from their current jurisdiction to tender evidence in another. Most of them incur out-of-pocket expenses and Accused persons not produced in court when needed by the prisons due to lack of logistics were raised as some of the challenges facing criminal investigation among other issues.
The Attorney General however advised that the CPL must be read in conjunction with the provisions of the Criminal code and the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. In a criminal matter, the complainant is the State (the NPF and the MOJ) and not the victim. The victim is only a witness of the state. He advised that dismissal of cases is only attainable if there is insufficient evidence to link the accused to the crime. He advised that they use the instruments available to them – appealing to a higher court, and also filing for restitution for the victim since an act can have both a criminal and civil content. The victim can be compensated for the crime committed against him.

On the sticky issue of witness protection, the AG advised that though there are no statutory provisions, prosecutors should advise witnesses to bring such threats to the attention of the court, and the culprit will be held in contempt, while the Nigerian Police authority urged the Investigation Police Officers IPOs go through their cases meticulously to find out all the ingredients the case has and conduct proper investigation before passing it over to Ministry of Justice.
The Forum rose with agreement on major action points while the AG requested that cases with such noticed challenges be brought to his notice, that of the O.C Legal of the Nigeria Police Force or the Chief Judge of Enugu State for speed action.

The Ministry of Justice raised the following issues:

• Improper investigation frustrates alibi cases. The Ministry of Justice has found that most cases with alibi lack proper investigation, and this stalls proper adjudication of such cases.
• In some cases, it takes the Nigeria Police Force 3 to 6 months to send a case file to the Ministry of Justice. The introduction Practice Direction, which allows case files to come directly from the Magistrate Courts was a good development and has saved them a lot of time.
• Cases sent for further investigation are not returned timely or not returned at all to the Ministry of Justice.
• IPOs who investigate in teams work independently as most times, when one is transferred, the others may not know where the case files are.
• Some confessional statements are not signed by the confessor and also do not contain cautionary words; this delays trials because accused persons usually claim he made the confession under duress.
• The documents listed in the index of a case file, most times are not the contents of the case file.
• The Nigerian Police Force agreed that the following actions will be taken to address issues raised by Ministry of Justice.
• They will ensure that case files sent for further investigations are returned to the Ministry of Justice.
• They will appeal to the Police Headquarters that a database of all the police officers be developed so that they can keep track officers on transfer. 
• They will make sure the documents listed on the index are contained in the case file.
• They will go an extra mile to ensure that confessional statements are corroborated, before sending the case file to the Ministry of Justice.

In his closing remarks, the Attorney General acknowledged that variables such as funding are beyond their control but, advised that his Ministry will do the best they can to ensure that criminal justice is speed-up despite all challenges. The AG acknowledges the fact that there is corruption in all the agencies, including the prisons but believes that with further joint meetings, they will be able to address the issues gradually.
It is hoped that the Commissioner of Police will hosts the next joint meeting, of which date is yet to be decided.