The Chief Judge of Oyo State, Justice Munta Abimbola, has stated that the release of 52 inmates from custodial centres in the state last week, was not done frivolously, adding that the efforts though in line with efforts to decongest the prisons to curb the spread of coronavirus, was done with consideration for the security of lives and property in the state as well as the rights of parties.
The release of the 52 inmates; 44 on basis of the prerogative of mercy, seven due to the proof that they were suffering from terminal ailments that the custodial centre clinics cannot adequately handle and one because his case had continued to stall before the court because prosecution witnesses refused to show up to testify, was done after a consensus by the monitoring committee of the Administration of Criminal Justice Law in the state.
The released inmates were granted mercy after the committee duly considered the need to decongest the prisons in the face of the security challenges being faced across the state and the rights of individuals involved in matters and the list considered was generated by the prison service.
According to Justice Abimbola, the exercise was not a frivolous one but one done with consideration for the provisions of the law and present circumstance of security within the state, adding that in order to ensure the released inmates get rehabilitated unto society and move away from crime, the monitoring committee of the Administration of Criminal Justice Law has made provisions of financial assistance for each of them.
“Apart from those that are terminally ill that this committee recommended their release, we considered for release a list comprising of was 157 inmates. We looked at awaiting trial inmates that had spent six years and above, sick convicted inmates, sick awaiting trial inmates and awaiting trial inmates with minor and bailable offences. For the first list of inmates that had spent more than six years, what we decided to do was get in touch with those in charge because most of the cases are part heard before the courts and we felt what would be appropriate is not to scuttle the trial process but fast track it and give necessary assistants to the court to ensure the speedy conclusion of the matters within the shortest time possible.
“After going through the list that contains minor and bailable offences and by consensus of the monitoring committee of ACJL that most of the cases were minor offences that even if the trial had gone on and they were convicted, they would have completed the terms of imprisonment, we thought it was appropriate to let them go,” the CJ said.
Justice Abimbola explained further that the committee is already considering a new practice direction so that cases before the court will not be at a standstill due to the unavoidable situation brought about by the coronavirus pandemic.
“We want to see how judges, litigants and counsel will be subjected to strict hygienic and health standards in line with NCDC and WHO guidelines. Not all cases will be listed for the same time as court sessions will be staggered in a way that specific time will be given for individual cases and hearing notices given to the effect and anyone that is not a party in a particular matter will not be allowed into court mainly to reduce the number of people and give room for social distancing,” Justice Abimbola explained.
