The Chief Judge of Oyo State, Justice Munta Ladipo Abimbola on Monday declared that prolonged detention is a breach of the constitutional right, reiterating that the stand of the law is that a person is presumed innocent until proven guilty.
The CJ made this declaration at the Agodi custodial centre of the Nigerian Correctional Service which he visited as part of a three-day tour of prisons within Oyo State in the exercise of his power of release and prerogative of mercy to aid prison decongestion.
According to Justice Abimbola, it is undisputed that the law recognises certain freedom for individuals, adding that in the exercise of the right, offences are committed and to avoid anarchy, they are apprehended and ordered into custody but such should not be prolonged unduly in order not to infringe on fundamental rights.
He added that the monitoring committee of the Administration of Criminal Justice Law has examined the cases of those deserving of freedom in an exercise of power that is not whimsical but based on laid down criteria; people of old age that can’t stand trial, serious health conditions or minors who are vulnerable citizens.
At the end of the exercise, the Chief Judge in the exercise of his power released 58 inmates; 16 were released for health reasons having been ascertained to suffer life-threatening diseases, 38 were released on compassionate grounds and four were given bail on self-recognition.
Among those released on compassionate grounds were 65-year-old Aminat Azeez and her 19-year-old daughter, Jamiu Mariam, who was accused of stealing money belonging to her boss and sending it to her mother. The two were arraigned on charges bordering on conspiracy and stealing.
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While answering questions on what brought them to prison, Mariam said her elderly boss who she worked for as a maid saw her crying and asked what was wrong and she informed her that her younger sister was sick and she needed to help her mother. She said the elderly woman showed her where she kept the money and asked her to take money there when she needs to send money home.
According to her, she sent N35, 000 in instalments of N10,000, N5000 and N20, 000 and when there was no money there again, she told the woman but when her children came, they said she was a thief and asked if she didn’t know that her boss was unwell. They arrested her and her mother and alleged she stole over a million naira and they were both arraigned and remanded in prison since August 15, 2022.
During their incarceration, the woman that gave Mariam out as house help and was collecting her salary also gave out her nine-year-old sister as house help and refused to stand as surety for mother and daughter to enjoy the bail granted them.
Justice Abimbola ordered that the nine years old child be withdrawn from wherever she is and brought to him as he will take over her care while the mother and sister get rehabilitated.
In his welcome address, the Comptroller of Prison, Sunday A. Ogundipe who described the exercise as historic being his first time experiencing such, thanked the Chief Judge and his team for harkening to the calls and meeting their needs on the importance of decongesting the prison so that prison facilities will not be overstretched.
He added that the Agodi Custodial centre has the capacity to hold only 339 inmates but on Monday morning, it had an open house of 1109 inmates.
