The Chief Judge of Ekiti State, Justice John Adeyeye, has set free 69 awaiting trial inmates at the Nigeria Correctional Centre, Ado Ekiti.
The beneficiaries included those who committed lesser offences ranging from burglary and stealing to staying in the custodial facility beyond the stipulated jail term.
According to a statement from the CJ’s office titled, ‘69 inmates regain freedom in Ekiti’, Adeyeye released the inmates during his first official visit to the custodial facility since assumption of duty in June 2021.
“Forty-five inmates were released unconditionally, 19 were released on bail, four were released on the advice of the Director of Public Prosecutions, Mr Julius Ajibare, for having no case to answer, one’s case was struck out, while three bail conditions were varied,” the statement said.
Adeyeye urged the freed inmates to “be of good behaviour as the long hand of the law is awaiting anyone found disrupting the peace of society.”
The Controller of the centre, Mr Olayemi Ojo, who conducted the CJ round the facility, said the custodial centre, which was designed for less than 400 inmates, had been over-stressed by accommodating about 700 inmates.
