Kwara State Chief justice pardons 16 convicted and awaiting trial inmates
Pardon has been granted to 16 convicted and awaiting trial inmates of Oke Kura and Mandela prisions in Ilorin by The Chief Judge of Kwara State, Justice Suleiman Kawu and also to decongest the number of prisoners in the Ilorin metropolis
One may argue that the problem in Nigeria is not decongestion of the Nigeria prison; population rather the decongestion of the country’s awaiting trial / remand prison
The CJ corroborated this by speaking after a visit to Oke Kura and Mandala prisons, Ilorin, yesterday,he said ” the exercise was carried out on the request of the Federal Government, through the state government, to effect prison decongestion in parts of the country.”
Justice Suleiman Kawu, who said the exercise was not to short circuit court trial, added that the inmates were granted freedom either for unlawful arrest and detention, or civil cases that required no detention. It was gathered that the Oke Kura prisons, with a 121 capacity, had 425 inmates; Mandala, 160 capacity, had 239 inmates.
The CJ, further said he will pay regular visit to the prisons and admonished those freed to find legal work.
Speaking earlier, the officer in charge of Ilorin Prisons, DCP Adeyinka Adebayo, said facilities at the prisons were overstretched, adding that overpopulation had resulted in different kind of diseases such scabies, body rashes among others.
