Lagos Chief Judge spread its amnesty to Ikoyi Prison

In continuation of efforts to decongest prisons, the Chief Judge of Lagos State, Justice Oluwafunmilayo Atilade has granted amnesty to thirty one inmates of Ikoyi prisons.

Justice Atilade had yesterday released a total of 153 inmates from the Kirikiri Maximum and Medium prisons.

Admonishing the freed prison inmates never to return to crime again, the chief judge said her administration will continue to review cases of inmates who have no business being in prison.

"Those of you that have been released today should see this as an oppurtunity for a new beginning.  You must henceforth be of good behaviour and never return to crime", she told the freed inmates.

Justice Atilade noted that her administration is committed to decongesting the prison and that situations where cases are allowed to prolong unnecessarily in court will not be tolerated.

"The purpose of carrying this exercise is to achieve a reduction of the awaiting trial population in the prisons. Situations where cases are allowed to unnecessarily drag on in court will no longer be tolerated," she said.

Decrying some of the challenges why many deserving inmates do not benefit from the amnesty programme, the Chief Judge admonished the Lagos State Directorate of Public Prosecution to always provide the Prison Decongestion Committee detailed information about the awaiting trial inmates.

She urged the Directorate of Public Prosecution, DPP, to develop mechanism where case files of inmates can easily be accessed and reviewed by the Decongestion Committee.

Justice Atilade also noted that the prison authorities must also be up and doing by adequate and relevant information to the decongestion committee.

In a remark, the Deputy Controller in charge of Ikoyi Prison, Julius Ezeugwu thanked the Chief Judge for releasing the inmates, noting that Ikoyi is run as a full corrective institute for reformation and rehabilitation of offenders in contrast to the erroneous impression of Nigerian Prisons as warehouse for criminal elements.

" Your lordship,  it is pertinent at this juncture to state that our open out today stands at 2295 out of which Awaiting Trial Inmates (ATM) constitutes 2009 inmates. This constitutes about 90 per cent while the convicted inmates is just 286 inmates. This about 10 per cent in a prison with a lock up capacity of 800 inmates", he said.