89 Awaiting Trial Inmates Regain Freedom In Ogun
A total of 89 Awaiting Trial Inmates have been granted amnesty by the Chief Judge of Ogun State, Justice Olatokunbo Olopade and her team of Administration of Criminal Justice Committee, at the end of jail delivery visit to prison formations across the State.
Olopade disclosed that the jail delivery exercise was not aimed at releasing criminals, but to reduce cases of unlawful detention and awaiting trial inmates, who had been in custody without trial over a period of time as well as those who had serious health issues among others.
The Chief Judge, while rounding off the exercise for the 1st quarter of 2017/2018 Legal Year, commended all stakeholders in the administration of Justice, for their efforts at ensuring that justice was not denied or delayed, saying that all constraints identified in the course of the exercise would be looked into, with a view to resolving them before the next visit.
“There is need for us to regularly visit the Prisons to treat deserving cases, in order to decongest the Prison of Awaiting Trial Inmates (A.T), who have not been tried over a period of time, those with serious health issues amongst others,’’ she emphasized.
She charged the pardoned inmates to turn over a new leaf, by shunning acts capable of breaching public peace, which could see them back in the prison.
At the end of the visit, 16 inmates from Ilaro Prison, Ilaro, 14 from the New Abeokuta Prison, Oba and the Ibara Prison which had 28 awaiting trial inmates, including three juveniles charged with the breach of societal peace regained freedom, while at the Ijebu-Ode and Sagamu Prisons, 24 and seven inmates were released respectively, bringing the number to 89.
