Nendimma Dogo Gonet, PhD
Abstract
In the pristine time, the security framework was geared towards defense against external threats.
With the transition from wandering/gathering to sedentary life pattern, it became a matter of
articulating multidimensional approaches that encompassed both external and internal frameworks.
Criminal Justice System is one of the methods of dispensing justice in the process of detecting
crime, prosecuting and conviction, or discharging the offender, as the case may be. Among the
Ngas, it was a multi-layered process, full of diligence, to protect human dignity in the process of
safeguarding the society. Through Criminal Justice System, no one was expected to suffer for the
offense he or she did not commit. The system was thriving well, in the full exercise of its
independence, but was not documented in this manner. At the moment, it has been disrupted by the
western variant of criminal justice administration. Nonetheless, even the substitute has not offered
any superlative stability in the polity; this raises concern about the need to intensely hybridize,
where expedient, to suit the subsisting complexities. Data were collected, through primary and
secondary sources, participant observer method, group discussions, and interviews of some aged
who witnessed the process in its purest form. Books with related information have been consulted
and phone calls have been made to spawn data as well. The data came, mostly in shreds, and it took
meticulous processes to knit them. Data were organized in themes, epochs, concepts, trajectories,
among others, then subjected to critical examination and assessment. Where there were nebulous
layouts, and or conflicting meanings, we opted for corroborations. It is hoped that this aspect of
discourse among Ngas can go a long way to serve as veritable reference material to lawyers, law
students, students of peace and conflict management, criminologists, sociologists, psychologists,
social workers, correction officers and the judiciary in advancing the course of non-custodial
service via restorative justice.
Introduction
Ngas people are one of the minority ethnic groups of the Middle Belt/Central Nigeria.1 They are
found in Pankshin and Kanke Local Government Areas, Plateau State. One of the earliest forms of
civilizations arose from security/criminal justice system architecture. That is, man needed to be
safe before engaging in other activities such as economy, politics and religion; or conversely, these
institutions needed to…