The Community Service as an Alternative Punishment to Imprisonment is an initiative birthed as a result of lack of viablenon-custodial alternatives to imprisonment as a punishment, which has plagued the Nigerian criminal justice system for a long period of time. The Community Service Programme of the Justice, Development and Peace Commission (JDPC) Ibadan is focused on the reduction of prison population by advocating for and ensuring that offenders of minor and petty crimes are not sentenced to prison custody in Oyo State. In other words, the community service programme is aimed at the promotion of community service punishment as a form of non-custodial sentencing.

This led to a 21- person Board being commissionedand inaugurated on the 3rd day of November, 2011. Members of the board were drawn from relevant fields which include the Legislator, Judiciary, Police, Prisons, Academics, Government Ministries and Parastatals, Civil Society Organizations and Media, with the end goal of ensuring the scheme has a strong psychosocial support system via integration of counselling into the scheme to offer requisite mental boost to the offenders, ensuring an effective scheme that is sustainable with enhanced operation in Oyo State, and adoption of this same scheme in other south west states via the help of our Sister JDPs in those states.

Through interactions with personnel from the above named bodies; it was deduced that;

· Community service as alternative punishment is reparative, retributive and rehabilitative– removing stigma that affects posterity.
· It should be domesticated to suit Nigeria’s situation with the involvement of traditional community heads, religious leaders, community development associations and NGOs.
· Following the above, there is need to establish community service board to enhance communication with the project and as well to advise government appropriately on service placement and appointment of supervisors.
· Health and social workers should be engaged in order to certify the fitness of the offender for the type of community service punishment and counsel these offenders in the course of serving their sentence.
· Engaging the media in all stages of the project is very vital in order to give effect to the legislative advocacy drive.

To achieve these, we carried out series of Awareness creation and enlightenment through the media, workshops and seminars; Advocacies, lobby and consultative visits to identified key stakeholders; and networking/ partnering with various stake holders in the justice sector. Likewise, we carried out refresher courses, trainings and information exchange sessions for the Oyo State Magistrates and Presidents of Customary Courts, inclusive of officers from the aforementioned State MDAs. We also conducted capacity building of our Community Service Officers who were employed for smooth administration of the scheme by the Oyo State Judiciary.

As at 2015, there has been a clear road map and a template for achieving the following deliverables;

· The government of each of the target states implements the “community service punishment for minor offences” initiative with appropriate structures, contents and processes.
· The judiciary understands and applies community service sentencing for minor offences.
· Aggrieved groups and individuals believe and accept community service punishment as satisfactory justice.
· Convicted offenders carried out community service punishment effectively and with commitment.
· The public is better aware and participate in chain monitoring of community service punishment diligently.

These deliverables were successful to the extent that it brought about the advent of the Community Service Law of Oyo State 2016 which became the manual for the administration of the scheme alongside the Administration of Criminal Justice Law of Oyo State 2016. To further ensure the need to explore other non-custodial measures, the need forthe Oyo State Non-Custodial Law 2019 was championed and it was eventually passed into Law in the year 2023.

Also, with the aid of a Data Bank we created in the year 2018, to codify and analyse all the information of offenders and the vigorous work carried out by the Community Service Officers employed by the Oyo State Judiciary; the implementation of the scheme has become assiduous with the Oyo State Judiciary. By 2021, The Judges, Magistrates and Presidents of the customary court have all been intentional in exploring community service as the major form of non-custodial form of sentencing for minor offences. Till date, the scheme though pioneered by the JDPC Ibadan; remains a thriving cause bravely championed by the Judiciary and has recorded over 2000 offenders who have undergone the scheme. These offenders were also counselled in the course of observing their sentencing by members of our Psycho Social Support Groups (PSG).

The impact of this scheme includes;

 · Humane and transformative justice system for minor offenders. Forexample:
          - The offender who has a place of employment would have the opportunity of retaining his/her job which aids restitution.
          - Offenders of minor offences would not be mixed up with hardened criminals who can influence them negatively in custody.
          - The stigma of being addressed as ex-prisoner is removed and offenders can easily be reintegrated into the society after serving their term.
          - They are not exposed to diseases that could have been contracted through overcrowding in the custodial centre.
          - Family bonds are not destroyed.
· Community service became strategic to the implementation and impact of the Administration of Criminal Justice Law (ACJL 2016) and the Correctional Service Act 2019
· Synergy among state actors, and with non-state actors for the common good.

Finally, the scheme has been adopted by the Kwara State Judiciary and other south west states also takes a cue from the institutionalization of this scheme to aid better administration of their Criminal Justice System.