Chief Judge of Oyo State, Justice Iyabo Yerima, has released 32 inmates from the Agodi Correctional Centre, Ibadan.
Thirty-one of the inmates were released unconditionally while one was sentenced to community service within the centre.
This was in furtherance of the exercise of her power of release from custody as provided in Chapter 40, Laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the Administration of Criminal Justice Law (ACJL) 2016, Oyo State, Nigeria.
The programme, which was the first leg of a two-day exercise, was based on the vision of decongesting the overstretched prison and also ensuring that justice is seen to have been manifestly done.
During the exercise, Justice Yerima said in the face of the law, every suspect is deemed innocent until proven guilty, and because the prisons were congested, there was a need to look at ways to remedy the situation and reduce the overcrowding of prisons, especially in order to avoid the outbreak of diseases on the basis of incarceration, which was longer than the penalty if convicted, and people who have contagious diseases, in line with statutory provisions for the release of the inmate.
She said the aim was to decongest the overstretched prison facility, adding that there was no argument that there is congestion in the prison considering the number of awaiting trial inmates.
“There is congestion in the prison, and that is why we are here. The administration of criminal justice provides for the decongestion of prisons as a statutory responsibility. We have a statutory duty under the constitution to frequently decongest the prison.
“The exercise is for those unlawfully arrested or who have stayed behind bars longer than the period they should have stayed if convicted; those whose trial has been unduly delayed; or those whose condition requires being shown mercy in line with the provision of the law,” she added.
