Integrating Victim Perspective into the Nigerian Criminal Justice System Through an Assessment of Pre-Colonial Adjudicatory Process

Abstract

The traditional methods of dealing with crimes among the early Nigerian communities accommodated the crime victim as a necessary party in the process. With the introduction of the English criminal justice system to Nigeria, the victim ceased to be a necessary party to trials. This article investigates the treatment of the victim in the two periods. With the aid of doctrinal methodology, the study finds the traditional method to be more comforting to the victim than the modern system. The article recommends reincorporating those aspects that are victim-friendly into the present Nigerian criminal justice system.