No fewer than 7 prison inmates have been granted
unconditional release, while 11 others were released on bail by the Kogi State
Chief Judge, Justice Nasiru Ajanah as part of efforts to decongest Nigeria
Prisons.
The lucky inmates who breathed the air of freedom have been
incarcerated for over five months and are facing criminal trials at the various
courts in the state, but had their cases reviewed by the State Chief Judge
during this year’s annual prison visit to decongest Koton- Karfe Federal prison
in Kogi state yesterday.
In a related development, another set of 11 Prison inmates
were also granted conditional bail with costs ranging from N5,000, N10,000and
N25,000 with sureties pending the outcome of investigation of their culpability
of various offences charged against then after case files were reviewed.
In some cases, it was learnt that the facts are not
corresponding with the First Information Report FIR or the Charge sheet brought
before the courts, thereby creating a lot of confusion and stalling the smooth
trials for over five or six months without taking accused persons to Court.
While reviewing 105 case files of inmates, Justice Ajanah
explained that presumption of innocence of an accused person must always be
taken into consideration in administration of criminal justice until contrary
is proven, adding that accused person should not be detained more than
necessary as investigations must be completed before accused persons are charged
to courts.
The Chief Judge stated that Prison visit is not just a visit
to decongest alone , stressing that it is aimed at looking at the condition and
the welfare of the inmates there.
No comments:
Post a Comment