Criminal Justice System and Victims of Crime in Benue State, Nigeria

Victims of crime in Benue state suffer double jeopardy; they start first as victims at the hands of criminals and end up as victims of the criminal justice system which only uses them as instruments of identifying the offenders;aiding the criminal justice process by testifying against the suspect and helping the courts to link the suspect(s) with the crime. However as soon as the courts succeed in making use of the victim, the attention is shifted to the offender. Further to this is the fact that people are treated differently by the judicial process as practiced in the country. The rich are seen to be given preferential treatment vis-a-vis their counterparts of lower estate; making many of those in the underprivileged group to be dissatisfied with the conduct of affairs in the criminal justice system. The situation calls for redress, it is to this end that several recommendations such as situating victims' rights also in the criminal justice mechanism just like the rights of offenders; among others are advocated.