PUNISHMENT OR SECOND CHANCE

Imagine someone breaks into your house while you are sleeping... They steal the money you have been saving for months, destroy some of your belongings and leave you feeling unsafe in the very place where you should feel most comfortable.. Weeks later, the police arrest the person and after the trial, the court sentences them to prison... People may tell you, “At least justice has been served.”.. But has it?..

Your money may be gone... You may still struggle to sleep peacefully... You may become suspicious of people around you and rebuilding what you lost could take months or even years.

Meanwhile, the person responsible is now in prison, eating, sleeping and serving their sentence.... This is where the conversation about justice becomes complicated for me... When someone commits a crime, should the main goal be to punish them or should the system try to change them into a better person?..

I sincerely think society actually needs to do both... Punishment matters because actions must have consequences... If someone deliberately hurts another person and faces no consequences, what message are we sending? Are we saying that people's lives, property and safety do not matter?.. That would be a dangerous message..

Imagine a society where people can steal, assault others or commit serious crimes and simply walk away without facing the law... Those with money or connections might become even more confident that they can do whatever they want.. In a country like Nigeria, where many people already worry about insecurity and the fairness of the justice system, that would only make things worse... People need to believe that the law protects them and that anyone who violates their rights can be held accountable.

However, I don't believe punishment alone solves the problem... If someone spends five or ten years in prison and comes out with the same mindset, the same criminal connections and no real opportunity to live differently, what exactly have we achieved?..

We have kept that person away from society for a period, which may have protected others during that time but if they return to the same behaviour, we may eventually have the same problem again... This is why I believe rehabilitation deserves serious attention.

Prison should provide opportunities for people to learn useful skills, continue their education, receive appropriate mental health support and understand the consequences of their actions... Where addiction contributes to offending, treatment may also be necessary... The goal should be to help people become capable of living responsibly when they return to society but rehabilitation should not mean pretending that the crime never happened.. A person who has committed a serious offence should not escape accountability simply because they claim to have changed.. Some crimes cause damage that cannot be repaired with an apology. Some victims lose loved ones. Others live with physical injuries, emotional trauma or financial difficulties long after the offender has been convicted...

We cannot ask these victims to forget everything just because we want to give the offender another chance... Their feelings matter too...

Sometimes, discussions about rehabilitation focus too much on the person who committed the crime that we forget the person who Actually suffered because of it... We talk about giving offenders a second chance but what about the victim who never got their life back?..

If someone kills a person's family member, no amount of rehabilitation can bring that person back.. If someone commits sexual violence, a prison sentence cannot automatically remove the trauma... If someone steals money from a struggling family, their imprisonment does not magically replace the money.. Justice must recognise these realities... Victims deserve to be heard, treated with dignity and given access to support... Where appropriate and legally possible, restitution or compensation should also be considered.. The justice system should not make victims feel that their suffering is less important than the future of the person who hurt them... At the same time, I don't think we should allow anger alone to determine every sentence... Justice should be based on evidence, the seriousness of the offence, the circumstances and the law, rather than revenge or public pressure... There must be room for fairness, even when the crime is terrible.

I also believe that different crimes require different responses.. A young person who commits a minor offence should not necessarily be treated the same way as someone who repeatedly commits violent crimes.. Someone who genuinely takes responsibility and demonstrates change may deserve different consideration from someone who continues to threaten others...

Protecting the society must remain a priority and rehabilitation should never mean releasing someone before it is safe or legally okay to do so...

I believe that the best justice system is one that can hold people accountable, recognise victims suffering and reduce the chances of future crimes simultaneously...

Punishment should be served where it is deserved, rehabilitate where rehabilitation is possible and public safety should remain priority throughout the process because the real victory is not simply the number of people we put behind bars..

A prison sentence may close one chapter but it cannot erase what happened... What matters is what the offender learns during the time, also what the victim receives in terms of justice and support because that would determine whether society becomes safer..

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