– Provincial Courts had civil and criminal jurisdiction but were widely criticized for their lack of legal personnel. In many cases, unskilled officials replaced qualified legal professionals, which offered little or no protection to the accused, who were mostly natives.

– Native Courts were officially established in 1900. In the northern regions, indigenous people were allowed to appoint the heads of their native courts; however, this privilege was not extended to the southern regions.

This publication provides a comprehensive overview of the work of the provincial court in Plateau Province from March 13, 1926, to February 18, 1931. The handwritten entries, recorded in printed templates, document the location of each trial (Gombe, Jos, Hoss,  Pankshin, Akwanga, Gerti, Richa, Kagoro, Langa Langa, Shendam , Mai Idon Taro, Zagun, Gumshir), the date, the judge’s name, the name of the accused, the charges, the plea, the verdict, and the sentence. Annotations in red offer additional details regarding the punishment or any fees paid.

The names of the accused are primarily of native origin, though some have Muslim, Christian, or British roots (e.g., James, Fred Winkle, Jack, C. B. Macaulay, John Morley, Johnson, etc.). These names are usually followed by the letters “M.N.” or “N.M.”, which may indicate “Male, Negro”, or “N.F.” for females, along with their ages. Additionally, some names include the letter “A.”, which signifies “Adult”. Many of the accused also include the names of their villages.

The majority of the accused were men, with only a few exceptions. Records show that only about three Europeans were involved in these cases. Charles Waller from London was charged with assault and found not guilty in Langa Langa. George Anderson, identified as a male European, was hunting without a license and found guilty in Pankshin, resulting in a fine of £5. Additionally, J. G. Turner, also a male European adult, was found guilty of selling alcohol but received only a reprimand. The punishments for these individuals appeared to be somewhat lighter than those imposed on others.

A special group referred to as “native foreigners” consisted of educated Africans, primarily from the Gold Coast and Sierra Leone, who had Western names (such as P.W.R. Parkinson, W.M. Dixon, Brassey Donaldson Wright, Victor Taylor, A.E. Stevenson, and James Etim of Calabar, as well as Abbott Clufford Duncan). These individuals did not identify themselves as native Nigerians. The records indicate that the punishments handed down by the provincial courts were equally harsh compared to those given to other Africans.

Notably, only two cases were appealed to the Supreme Court, and both involved Christian defendants.

Crimes and Punishments

The documents outline a broad range of crimes and their corresponding penalties. The nature of punishments has evolved over the years. In 1926, many offenders faced penalties that included imprisonment with hard labor, often combined with fines or corporal punishment, such as lashes from a light rod or cane. However, by the late 1920s, the focus of punishments had shifted primarily to imprisonment, hard labor, and fines.

According to today’s standards, many punishments are considered excessive and brutal. State officials received severe penalties for taking bribes and stealing from the government, including up to two years in prison with hard labor.

Harsh punishments were also implemented to eliminate practices such as human sacrifice, trial by ordeal and witchcraft. These practices included “making poison for trial and being present at a trial”, “accusing a person of having power of witchcraft” and “being present at or making poison for unlawful trial by ordeal”. Additionally, “directing an unlawful trial by ordeal” was considered equivalent to murder and was punishable by death.

Selling slaves remained a significant issue, particularly in Pankshin, with severe penalties. Attempting to purchase a slave could result in a penalty of approximately two years in prison.

Other violations were stealing, extortion, rioting, rape, attempt to procure abortion, indecent assault, manslaughter, cheating, stealing a mare, arson, being a rogue and a vagabond, reckless driving, vitiating the atmosphere of any place to make it noxious to the health of persons, child stealing, receiving stolen property, rendering false returns, forestry ordinance, unlawful gaming, breaching wild animals preservation, farming in a forest reserve, taking protective timber without a permit, stripping bark from 60 young trees planted in Naraguta Forest Reserve, pasturing cattle in forest reserve, wounding, entering train in motion, willfully giving false information regarding taxable capacity of their families, neglecting to repair rest houses , neglecting to clean roads, bigamy (6 months in prison) etc.

In the late 1920s, new laws were enacted that imposed penalties for various offenses, including poaching, selling alcohol to natives without a license (which violated Section 4 of the Native Liquor Ordinance, introduced in 1927), reckless driving, and other motorcycle-related violations (circa 1930).