NBA Urges Separation of Minors from Adult Inmates, Advocates for Establishment of Foster Homes

The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Umuahia branch, has called on the Abia State Government to include the construction of foster homes in the 2026 budget to ensure minors arrested for minor offenses are not detained alongside hardened criminals.

The appeal was made during a citizens’ engagement forum organized by the state government in preparation for the 2026 budget.

Speaking at the event, Emmanuel Okonkwo, Assistant Secretary of the NBA Umuahia branch, warned that housing underage offenders in the same detention facilities as notorious criminals could expose them to greater criminal influence.

“Keeping minors in the same cells with hardened criminals may lead to their deeper indoctrination into criminal behavior,” Okonkwo said, stressing the urgent need for foster facilities as part of juvenile justice reform.

Earlier, the Secretary of the Umuahia branch, Ladu N. Martins, lamented the effect of a recent fire disaster that impacted a court in Ikwuano Local Government Area, leaving litigants without a functional venue for their legal matters.

Martins, however, expressed appreciation to the Abia State Government for renovating the High Court in Okeikpe, Ukwa West LGA. The court had previously been relocated to Aba due to its dilapidated state, forcing affected residents to travel long distances to access justice.

“That situation posed a serious challenge to timely and efficient dispensation of justice,” he noted.

In a related appeal, the Executive Director of the Initiative for Care Support to the Less Privileged (ICASULP), Ogbonna Priscilla, urged the government to allocate funding in the 2026 budget for free legal services for women, children, and other vulnerable groups in the state.

Responding, the Commissioner for Budget and Economic Planning, Kingsley Anosike, said the citizens’ engagement was designed to capture the real needs of the people in the budgeting process.