The Ogun State Government has put in place modalities that will ensure speedy dispensation of justice towards decongesting prisons in the state.
Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Mrs Abimbola Akeredolu, who stated this to newsmen yesterday said the government also aims at reducing the large number of inmates awaiting trial.
She said Governor Ibikunle Amosun, who granted amnesty to 15 inmates and commuted death sentences passed on nine convicts to life imprisonment in commemoration of his third year in office, was moved by the deplorable condition of prison formations and has met with stakeholders in the criminal justice system, including the Chief Judge, Controller of Prisons, Commissioner of Police and herself.
“Our people should expect that justice will begin to be dispensed more speedily. Case files will be brought to court faster, so that the number of those awaiting trial will be significantly reduced in the very near future,” Akeredolu said.
She also said that the Governor, during his visit to prison formations in Oba, Ilaro and Abeokuta had deployed health officials to attend to inmates with bad health conditions.
The Ogun State Controller of Prisons, Mr. Joseph Olanrele, also revealed that 450 inmates were awaiting trial, stating however, that the State Governor has mandated stakeholders to ensure that those who were not supposed to be behind bars are not kept there unnecessarily.
Olanrele called on the populace to join the Nigeria Prison Service in its efforts at providing vocational skills to inmates, noting that the provision of adequate training facilities would help empower the inmates.
