Kwara CJ frees 16 prison inmates

Chief Judge of Kwara State, Justice Suleiman Kawu, has  pardoned 16 inmates of OkeKura and Mandala Prisons in the state capital.
Kawu said the exercise was carried out on the request of the federal government through the state government to effect prison decongestion.
According to Kawu, the  instrument  of arrest of some of the inmates were not available, while facts supplied for arrest the arrest of three juvenile cases who were detained for allegedly belonging to a group of armed robbers did not support the fact.
Kawu promised to pay regular visit to the prisons to effect prison decongestion and advised those freed to find something doing. 
 Oke Kura prisons with 121 capacity, currently holds a total of 425 inmates, while that of Mandala Prison had 160 capacity with 239 inmates.
The officer in charge of Ilorin Prison, DCP Adeyinka Adebayo, said facilities in the prisons were overstretched; stressing that overpopulation situation had resulted in the breakout of different kinds of diseases.
Responding, the CJ said that: "We have observed over time, that most of the inmates had skin diseases. We urged the authorities of the prisons to take steps, to arrest the situation before it spreads to other inmates. Whatever we feel the state government can do for you as you requested earlier, we will try our best to contact the state government to fulfill its promise of providing vehicle for you. We shall urge the government to provide medical inputs to treat those inmates who are sick.
“We have gone through the list of a total of 182 inmates consisting of convicted and awaiting trial. We have come to a decision, upon examination that 15 inmates deserve to be released from custody today. The basis of our decision to release them is mainly because we are of the view that their detention is manifestly unlawful. We have seen that some of the cases are civil in nature and not criminal which will not attract any arrest or detention.
"We also observed that in some cases the instruments of arraignment are either defective or not available. No proceeding can issue out of invalid instruments. So we have taken steps to release these inmates.
"We also observed that there are some juveniles detained for belonging to a gang of thieves, through the facts contained in the First Information (FR). We are of the view that the facts do not support the allegations contained in the FIR. So we have ordered they be released forthwith. I just want to seize this opportunity to urge you to go and find something to do, because i will not want to find you back in the next one or 10 years. Please do not involve yourselves in any criminal act again.”