The Chief Judge of Lagos State, Justice Olufunmilayo Atilade Tuesday granted freedom to 20 inmates of the Ikoyi prison awaiting trial.
The Chief Judge had visited the prison as part of the activities marking the beginning of the 2016/2017 legal year.
She said they were released on exercise of powers granted her under the Criminal Justice (Release from Custody), Special Provisions Act, Cap C40 2004 Laws of the Federation.
Justice Atilade said those granted freed were among a total of 104 names of inmates whose names were submitted by the Prison Decongestion Committee headed by Justice Oluwatoyin Ipaye for consideration, out of which only 20 are worthy.
She admonished those released from prison custody “to go and sin no more”.
She reiterated that prison visit is one of the key pillars of her administration to regularly visit the custodial institutions of Lagos State with a view to granting amnesty to eligible and qualified inmates.
The Chief Judge however lamented the high number of inmates in awaiting trials in prisons.
She said: “A number of factors have contributed to the large number of awaiting trial inmates. These include ongoing investigations by police, the time lapse between the issuance of the DPP’s advice and filing of the case in court, operational delays such as transportation from prison to court and lack of legal representation.”
Since her Inauguration as Chief Judge in 2014, Justice Atilade had granted freedom to a total of 265 prisoners. Thirty-seven inmates were released between September 2014 and September 2015 from Ikoyi and Kirikiri prisons while 228 were also released between September 2015 and September 2016.
The Deputy Comptroller of Prison (DCP), Ikoyi Prison, Ezugwu Julius, lamented the over population of inmates at the Ikoyi Prison.
” Ikoyi prison was built in 1955 with a capacity of 800 inmates. However, our open out today stands at 2,358 inmates with awaiting trial persons numbering 2,037 out of which 321 inmates are convicts,” he said.
He urged the Chief Judge to help stem the tide of awaiting trial person’s phenomenon and ultimately decongest our prisons’ through speedy conclusion of cases in courts.
The DCP Julius said those granted freedom have been trained in various skills such as soap making, catering, among others, aimed at making them useful to the society following discharge from custody.
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