Chief Judge of Oyo State, Nigeria, Justice Munta Abimbola, Tuesday, ordered the released of 30 inmates from the Agodi prison, Ibadan.
The inmates included 25 inmates who were released unconditionally, 3 who were released on bail. Others include one who was sent to the remand home on age basis and another who was released on bail to continue with his trial.
Most of those released include those who were wrongfully charged, those that had stayed beyond their prison sentence and those that were supposed to be brought on a civil case and not by a criminal code.
The Chief Judge said that the judiciary arm in the state has introduced the parole system into its administration of criminal justice to further aid the bid to decongest the prison, speed up the justice process.
According to him, the parole system is provided for in the Administration of Criminal Justice Law of Oyo state, Part 43, Section 456 which provides that where the Comptroller General of prison raises a report recommending that a prisoner sentenced and serving his sentence in prison is of good behavior and where he has served at least one third of his prison term where he is sentenced to imprisonment for a term of at least 15 years or life imprisonment, the court after listening to prosecution and prison authority, can order that his sentence be suspended with or without conditions and the prisoner will be released from prison.
The CJ said, “The exercise of the power of release is not based on our whims and caprices. It has its origin in law, Chapter 40 of the laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the laws of Oyo state and the Criminal Justice Release from Custody Act provides that if the Chief Judge is satisfied that the detention of a suspect is manifestly unlawful or a suspect is detained for a period longer than the maximum period of imprisonment, his offence attracts if convicted.
“Or if inmates yet to be convicted for bailable offences have stayed in custody beyond a reasonable period or attempted robbery or cases with unduly delayed trial in cases where magistrates are not empowered to grant bail or in cases of inmates awaiting trial for bailable offences, such people can be found worthy of release,’ he stated.
Abimbola stated that it is better for 10 guilty people to be set free than for one innocent person to be incarcerated unduly, urging any of the inmates that qualifies for pardon to desist from crime so that they would not find their ways back behind bars. He siad in such a case, they would not get a chance of the prerogative of mercy.
Abimbola then ordered the released of the 30 inmates from the prison.
Comptroller of Prisons in Oyo state, Tosin Akinromoju stated that the CJ’s visit was timely as the prison facility was already overstretched.
He said that the prison built in the pre-colonial era was designed to cater for 300 inmates but as at Tuesday morning, the prison had 1150 inmates with only 100 convicted.
He said that the convicted inmates include 95 male and 15 female while the remaining 1,050 are awaiting trial inmates.
At the end of the sitting, Justice Abimbola released 30 inmates; 25 were released unconditionally, three were released on bail, one was sent to the remand home on age basis and one was released on bail to continue with his trial.