In an ongoing exercise to decongest prisons across Delta State, Chief Judge Theresa Diai, on Monday, set at liberty four inmates who were on awaiting trial list in High Courts and Magistrate Courts in Warri and environ.
The freed inmates from the Nigeria Correction Service (NCS), Okere, Warri, included 28-year-old Goodluck Sunday with Suit No. FHC/116C/18 and 29-year-old Destiny Julius with Charge no. MO/97c/19.
The other two were 35-year-old Testimony Inoke arrested for alleged conspiracy/burglary/robbery with charge number ME/154C/21 on October 5, 2020, and 29-year-old Ejovi Daniel who was, in number CMU/38C/21, charged with alleged conspiracy and arson.
Goodluck was charged with Conspiracy to Commit Kidnapping at High Court 4, Warri, and admitted to the Warri prison on May 31, 2019, spending about five years in custody and his case adjourned 12 times before respite came his way on Monday.
Narrating his pathetic ordeal, freed Goodluck said he was going to a site as a bricklayer on August 11, 2017, when he suddenly saw people running helter-skelter.
Thinking it was a cultists’ clash, he also took to his heels and was consequently nabbed and accused of ‘conspiracy to commit kidnapping.’
“I was going for my bricklaying job when I saw people running and I joined them.
“I was picked up and labelled a kidnapper. That’s how I found myself in the prison,” he disclosed amid hot tears, but thanksgiving to God.
Speaking to journalists after his release amid shouts of thanksgiving, Testimony Inoke, who had spent a year in custody,
said he was falsely accused of buying a stolen used phone at a police station and then found himself in prison.
“I committed no crime. Someone saw me in the station, called my name, then called the IPO that I was the one that sold a phone to him. That was the last I knew,” he lamented.
In the case of Destiny Julius, a sewage worker, who was arrested in 2018 at PTI junction by a patrol team while returning from work, he’s been arraigned only once since charged for alleged armed robbery at High Court 3, Effurun where 103 inmates are awaiting trial.
Destiny has spent about three years in custody since the arrest, but profusely thanked the Chief Judge and the state government for letting him off the hook.
Chief Judge Diai, who’s accompanied by the Attorney-General and Commissioner of Justice, Delta State, Isaiah Bozimo Esq. and other principal officers of the Ministry of Justice, has 531 awaiting trial cases to treat between Monday and Tuesday before leaving for Sapele to continue the exercise.
YOU SHOULD NOT MISS THESE HEADLINES FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE
FALSE! Yoruba Not An Official Language In Brazil
Claim: A national newspaper and multiple online platforms claim Brazil has adopted Yoruba as its official language and that the language would be included in primary and secondary schools curriculum.
Verdict: The claim is false. The content of the article published by these online platforms is not new; it has been recirculated several times and has been debunked.
Viral Voice Note On WhatsApp Billing False
Claim: A viral WhatsApp voice note, purportedly made by the director and CEO of WhatsApp, claims users will have to start paying for WhatsApp services.
Verdict: The viral WhatsApp voice note claim is a hoax. The content is not new and has been circulated as a broadcast message several times in the past.
Marburg Virus: What You Need To Know About Disease Recently Detected In West Africa
On Monday, August 9, 2021, the World Health Organisation (WHO) confirmed the first case of Marburg virus in West Africa in Guinea. This development has sent shivers down the spines of West Africans who are still grappling with the effects of the coronavirus pandemic. But before this dreaded disease is greeted by rumours and misinformation, here is what you have to know about the virus.
FACT CHECK: US Did Not Give Nigeria 48 Hours Ultimatum To Detain Abba Kyari
CLAIM: Several social media posts claim the United States of America (USA) gave Nigeria’s Federal Government 48 hours to detain suspended Deputy Police Commissioner, Abba Kyari, or face severe sanctions.
VERDICT: The claim is false and misleading. The US did not give Nigerian Federal Government 48 hours ultimatum to detain Abba Kyari.
and then