Cross River releases 34 suspects from prison

THIRTY-FOUR suspects awaiting trial at the Afokang Federal Prisons, Calabar, Cross River State have regained their freedom.

Twenty-three armed robbery suspects and six persons awaiting trial for stealing were among those who regained freedom when Justice Dorothy Iyamba, the Chief Judge of Cross River State visited the Afokang Federal Prisons in Calabar at the weekend.

Others set free are those awaiting trial for kidnapping, child trafficking and conspiring to cause communal conflict.

Justice Iyamba who reviewed the cases of over 200 of the 650 awaiting trial inmates set 34 of them free following procedural defects in their trial, shoddy police investigation, poor health of inmates, missing case files and prolonged period of detention without trial.

A 41-year-old lady Felicia Alfa who allegedly killed her husband by bursting his testicles in a fight in the night when the man demanded sex with her was also set free.

The judge set her free as she was said to be having vaginal infection which was emitting offensive odour and for fear of passing the infection to other inmates in the prison.

One James Efiok who was said to have had unlawful carnal knowledge of a girl was also released after spending 10 months in detention without charges brought against him. Shuaibu Mohammed who was said to have blown open an NNPC pipeline was also set free after spending four years in detention.

Justice Iyamba told the inmates that the state had nothing against them and went ahead to set them free. She noted that she was often pained by the poor police investigation and attitude of the Department of Public Prosecution in handling such matters.

She said releasing the detainees was not healthy for society but that their continued incarceration was abuse of their fundamental human rights.

The chief judge was particularly pained by the case of three young men Alphornsus Mbakara, Raymond Johnson Utoro and Christopher Akpan who had been in detention since December 2005 for allegedly gang-raping a lady .

She said that their continued detention was intolerable.

“Even if they were found guilty and sentenced they would not have spent more than the seven years which they have been kept languishing in detention.”

She however did not set them free but ordered that they be made to appear in court on the first working day of the week.

Justice Iyamba also refused to release one Uzo Orji,  a 21- year-old lady who was alleged to have conspired with others now at large to rob some Hausa men  in Calabar.

Mr. Akwanji Ikong, the  Director of Public Prosecution  (DPP) for the state told Justice Iyamaba :  “She connived with some people and cut some papers to the size of dollars and covered them with some few dollar notes and showed the money exchangers that she wanted to change dollars worth N16 million and the mallams had to mop all the money they had to that amount and put in her booth. She first took them to Fist Bank Calabar Road as the venue for the exchange but she later changed the venue to Peperoni along Marian Road. On the way to the place four gunmen stopped the car and she also pulled out her gun and ordered the mallams out of the car and drove off to Uyo, Akwa Ibom State where they shared the money.”

Justice Iyamba ordered her accelerated trial and at the close of the prison court session she expressed satisfaction with the prison’s clean environment in spite of the bloated population.