The International Federation of Women Lawyers on Monday appealed to the Nigerian judiciary to give suspended sentence to pregnant women and those breastfeeding.
President of FIDA, Mrs. Hauwa Shekarau, made the appeal in Abuja in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria.
Shekarau said the move should be part of measures to protect the rights of babies, whose mothers are serving jail terms.
She said, "There should be suspended sentence for pregnant inmates and those breastfeeding until their children are weaned, and then they can serve their terms.''
Shekarau said it was a violation of the right of a child for a pregnant inmate or an inmate breastfeeding her child to be made to serve her term with the child.
She expressed concern over the safety of a pregnant inmate she saw at the Ikot Ekpene Prison during a visit by members of the FIDA National Executive Council.
She said, "We saw a woman who came to the prison already pregnant and our concern was for the unborn child, and from what we heard from the Controller of Prisons, she was giving birth soon.
"One begins to wonder what will happen to the child when she gives birth. It means that the child is going to be incarcerated together with the mother, and I think something should be done about it.
"That child is supposed to be born free because it did not commit any offence."
Shekarau called for the restructuring of the country's prisons system to conform with human rights requirements, adding "the Akwa Ibom State Government has set a standard in this respect and should be emulated''
“We visited the newly built Ikto Ekpene Prison and were so impressed with the facilities, and we hope that all prisons in the country will be like that,'' she said.
Shekarau recalled that the FIDA's meeting in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom capital, between April 28 and May 1, called for the protection of the rights of women.
She said the resolution was taken because of the astronomical increase in violence against women across the country.
