EKITI STATE Chief Judge, Justice Ayodeji Daramola, has ordered the release of 31 inmates awaiting trial from the Federal Prison in Ado Ekiti, Ekiti State capital. Justice Daramola gave the order after reviewing the cases of the 295 awaiting trial inmates in detention during his visit to the prison yesterday. Twenty-two of the inmates were released unconditionally by the Chief Judge, while the remaining 9 inmates were freed based on the advice of the State Director of Public Prosecution, DPP, that they had no case to answer. One other inmate was however granted bail by the Chief Judge Justice Daramola, who commended the authorities of the Ado Ekiti Prison for the clean environment and the neat appearance of inmates in the prison, however frowned at the what he referred to as the
“undue overcrowding” of the prison. “It is clear that those who designed this prison did not take into consideration the fact that some convicted prisoners would serve their jail terms here. Or how does one explain the fact that the makeshift Convicted Persons Section in the prison is made up of a small building with only three rooms which currently houses over 130 convicted inmates?” Daramola stated While stressing that prisons should be correctional facilities where inmates are properly rehabilitated and reformed, he therefore advised the State Comptroller of Prisons, to look at the possibility of transferring some of the convicted inmates to serve their terms in prisons with larger facilities in neighboring states. The Chief Judge also lauded stakeholders in the judicial sector for their contributions to the dispensation of Justice in the State.
