From Priscilla Ediare, Ado-Ekiti
The Chief Judge (CJ) of Ekiti State, Justice Ayodeji Daramola, has granted pardons to 34 inmates in Ado-Ekiti Correctional Centre.
This pardons, according to the CJ, are aimed at decongesting the prison.
The freed 34 inmates are part of the 386 whose cases were reviewed during the CJ’s visit to the correctional centre in Ado-Ekiti on Tuesday.
Twenty-seven inmates, including a female, were set free unconditionally, while seven were granted bail on liberal terms.
Addressing the freed inmates, Justice Daramola, advised them ‘to learn from your past mistakes and go into the world with determination to redirect your psyches and do what is right by refraining from crime and criminality.’
Justice Daramola eulogised correctional officers for keeping the inmates healthy as well as maintaining a hygienic environment to prevent untimely deaths and high morbidities among inmates.
The CJ berated the prosecuting system in Nigeria, describing it as falling short of international best practices, saying that the shortcomings have contributed greatly to prison congestion in the country.
‘I admonish you to be of good behaviour as the long hand of the law is awaiting any erring citizen,’ the Chief Judge told the freed convicts.
Justice Daramola also gave financial aid to one of the pardoned inmates who could not return home for lack of funds.
The Comptroller of the centre, Mr Alimi Abdul Rasheed, applauded the Chief Judge for the gesture, describing his visit as worthwhile and remarkable.