Sunday had been working as a cashier in a school when he was accused of siphoning the sum of #460,000 from his boss. He was arrested and was immediately arraigned in court where he pleaded not guilty to the charge. 

Having been briefed of the case during one of our visits to the correctional centre in Nassarawa State, Nigeria, we took up the case and after interviewing Sunday we decided to use the restorative justice route in resolving the case after Sunday admitted his guilt. After different private meetings with the parties and risk assessment sessions, a restorative justice process commenced. 

Two sessions of victim-offender mediation were held on the 4th and 12th of March 2023.

Present at the sessions were: 

1. The State Prosecutor 

2. The Victim, his wife, and a friend 

3. The Offender, his parents, and a friend. 

After the sessions, the parties were able to repair the harm committed while holding the offender accountable to the Victim for his actions. We also recommended that some restitution and compensation be made to that effect. 

In this case, restorative justice helped resolve a case that would have added to the growing number of cases in our courts and helped to restore the broken relationship between the victim and the offender. 

Below is a picture of one of our volunteers drafting the restorative agreement after the meeting