Prison Official Proffers Solution To Congestion As Ekiti CJ Frees 69 Inmates

By Ayodele Oni

The Controller of the Correctional Centre in Ado Ekiti, Mr. Olayemi Ojo, has revealed that the Centre has been overburdened by too many inmates.

Speaking while receiving the Ekiti State Chief Judge, Justice John Adeyeye, who was on a visit to the Correctional Centre, the Controller described the visit as timely as it would help resolving some of the challenges.

According to Mr Olayemi, the facility was designed to accomodate less than four hundred inmates but has  been over-stretched with about seven hundred inmates.

He urged the Chief Judge to encourage Magistrates to make use of Non-Custodial sentences, such as community services, as such will drastically help in decongesting  Correctional Centres.

The Controller promised to make his men available anywhere and anytime the need arises for such services and appealed to the Chief Judge to make the visit a regular exercise.

Justice Adeyeye, in his remarks, appreciated stakeholders in the administration of justice especially the Judges, Magistrates, Lawyers, Police and others for their patient and cooperation.

He urged the released inmates to be of good behaviour as the long hand of the law is awaiting anyone found disrupting the peace of the society.

During the visit, a total of 583 cases were reviewed –  11 females and 527 males. 45 inmates were released unconditionally, 19 were granted bail, four let off on the advice of the Director of Public Prosecutions, Mr. Julius Ajibare for having no case to answer, one struck out while three bail conditions were varied.

The Chief Judge, who was on his first official visit to the Nigerian Correctional Centre, Ado Ekiti, since assumption of duty in June, 2021, lauded the Controller and his men for keeping a clean and healthy environment, thereby making the facility more accommodating and conducive for the inmates.

There have been attacks on Correctional Centres in the country of recent, culminating in the escape of some of the inmates and destruction of facilities at the Centre.

Virtually all the Centres are overcrowded with inmates, with some of them accomodating double the number of inmates, leading, atimes, to outbreak of communicable diseases.

Occassional visits by Chief Judges and ceremonial granting of amnesty by Governors have had little or no impact on the congestion of the centres.