43 prison inmates gain freedom from Kaduna State

The Chief Judge of Sokoto State, Justice Bello Abbas, on Thursday granted pardon to 43 awaiting trial inmates in the Sokoto Central Prison.

Mr. Abbas pardoned the inmates when he paid an official visit to the prison to ascertain the deserving cases for review, especially awaiting trial inmates.

The chief judge said that the gesture was aimed at decongesting prisons and ensuring that suspects did not stay much longer than necessary while awaiting trial.

“Our aim is to see to the welfare of the inmates and ensure that no one will stay longer than necessary, while awaiting trial before the various courts in the state.

“As such, the assignment we are embarking on is to ensure speedy clearance of all awaiting trials, while those who had over stayed are discharged,” he said.

The chief judge also promised that all the remaining awaiting trial inmates would soon be tried, after liaising with all the courts and other related agencies.

Mr. Abbas further promised to continue such exercise from time to time in order to ensure sanity in the conduct of justice and control the number of inmates in the prison.

The Controller of Prison, Halliru Na’abba, commended the Chief Judge, the state and federal governments for taking more measures to ensure the wellbeing of the inmates and decongesting the prisons in the country.

He called on the pardoned inmates to utilise such opportunity in changing their lifestyle and become a better citizens in the country.

News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that, Abbas has on February 8, granted pardon to 28 awaiting trial inmates.

Source : (NAN)