As part of efforts to decongest prison facilities in Kogi State, the Chief Judge of the state, Justice Nasir Ajanah, has granted 4 prison inmates unconditional release from the custody and one other was released on bail In the same vein, he ordered that 10 other prison inmates should be taken back to court to process their bail while the investigation of their cases continues unhindered Justice Nasir Ajanah, who gave these order while reviewing cases of 199 awaiting trial inmates during the Prison Decongestion Tour of the facility at new Koton Karfe Prison yesterday, Justice Ajanah however, expressed worry over the high rate in which people, especially the youths, commit very serious offences ranging from culpable homicide, armed robbery, kidnapping and rape in the state.
While granting unconditional release to four inmates, the Chief Judge explained that the basic principle of the law is that no person shall be arrested and prosecuted except for established or known offences. He also pointed out that the section of the Constitution has stipulated the period an accused person can be detained, noting that continued detention of accused persons without trial, particularly when no efforts are made continue the case, will be tantamount to breach of fundamental human rights, according to section 35(4) of constitution of Federal Republic of Nigeria He therefore, warned that no magistrate should adjourn cases beyond two weeks, adding that very soon, all magistrates will submit the list of the cases they are handling, decided or disposed off. The Chief Judge pointed out that there were 199 awaiting trial, noting that 130 cases were treated and the remaining 69 cases fell within the responsibility of the Federal High Court .
“Out of 130 cases, we considered I, granted 4 unconditional release, granted conditional release to one and ordered that about 10 inmates should be taken to Court for their bail. We have 29 convicts and a total of 220 inmates in this facility. The number of people in the prison exceeds the prison again.” Justice Ajanah also explained that two weeks would be devoted toward the end of April for assizes where most of the criminals will be considered and those who have not known their fate will know. Those granted freedom were Shola Akanbi, Godwin Pete, Danlami Opaluwa and Yakubu, while one Momoh Jimoh Aliu was granted bail with N5,000 and one surety.
Credit: Mirror
