Covid-19: Oyo chief judge leads committee to decongest prisons

The Oyo State Administration of Criminal Justice Law Monitoring Committee met in Ibadan on Monday to work out modalities to decongest prisons in the state. This is in line with efforts to curb the spread of coronavirus across various sectors in the country and in line with the Federal Government’s advice that each state should work with stakeholders in the judiciary to decongest custodial centres in order to protect inmates from getting infected.

The meeting which was led by the Chief Judge of Oyo State, Justice Munta Abimbola and had critical stakeholders in attendance was to chart a course of decongesting custodial services in the state without unleashing mayhem on the society in view of the rise in criminal activities in the state in recent times.

During the meeting which held at the High Court Complex, Ring Road in Ibadan, Justice Abimbola released seven inmates who have terminal ailments and have spent up to 10 years behind bars to enable them to take adequate care of their health as the prison at present does not allow movement of anyone in to or outside its premises.

The committee were of the opinion that while trying to protect inmates at the custodial service from getting infected due to the difficulty of maintaining social distancing in confined spaces, the recent spoke in crime rate must also be considered so that those that will be released will not be those that will go back to society to commit other crimes especially since justice is on a tripod stand. Consequently, the committee members agreed to study the list presented well before taking further actions with a consensus that the process will be done without any form of delay

Speaking on the purpose and decisions agreed on at the meeting, Justice Abimbola stated that, “as a result of the directive that we should go and decongest the prisons and in view of the increase in crime rate in the society, we feel that the Administration Of Criminal Justice Monitoring Committee should sit in conjunction with all other stakeholders; that is the police, prosecutors, Director of Public Prosecution and other stakeholders and see what we can do. There are some alternative mechanisms we can put in place to decongest prisons rather than going to physically release. That’s what we have done.

“But there are those that are terminally ill and it is not appropriate for us to expect that a dead person can be prosecuted, so we released about five upon consensus from all of us and upon being shown that they cannot be treated at the custodial centres and we have opinion of the custodial service physicians. We looked into it and on compassionate ground, we felt those five should be released. The others we will still have meetings over it and discuss because we have a duty to ensure that the society is safe,” the chief judge said.

Also speaking, the Comptroller, Nigerian Correctional Service, Oyo State Command, Mr Tosin Akinrojomu said the service had put in place measures to prevent outbreak of the disease at all its centres, adding that the welfare of every inmate is taken as a priority.

“We have medical personnel at all correctional centres and they are taking good care of inmates but some illnesses are terminal in nature, that is why the CJ is using his good offices to release those that have terminal illnesses, some have them have spent up to 10 years in custody. This opportunity is giving them a second chance to reconsider, live a good life, take adequate care of their health and turn new leaves.

“The state government gave us maximum support, provided us with water storage facilities, sanitisers, soap, disinfectant and what we need to protect the inmates from getting infected. And because we are sure those inside are not infected nor showing any sign of infection, we have stopped taking in anyone from outside and the staff that come in to take care of them are taking maximum –preventive measures so they don’t bring in infection,” he said.

He explained further that while crime rate is growing on geometric progression, building of correctional facilities is on arithmetic progression, adding that it is his belief that by the time the Maximum Correctional Centre being built at Olomi is completed, the level of congestion will be reduced in Oyo and Agodi correctional facilities.

Other participants at the meeting include chairmen of Nigerian Bar Association in Ibadan, Saki, Oyo, and Ogbomosho, Officer in Charge of Legal matters in Oyo State command of the police, Director of Public Prosecution in Oyo State and judiciary reporters.

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