The Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Tanko Muhammed, on Friday directed all Chief Judges at the federal and state levels to take steps to decongest prisons in Nigeria.
The directive was given as a measure to contain the spread of the deadly coronavirus (COVID-19).
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The CJN, in his capacity as the Chairman of the National Judicial Council, gave this directive in a memo with reference number, NJC/CIR/HOC/II/662, and dated May 15, 2020.
The CJN who instructed Chief Judges to speedily attend to criminal cases also directed them to visit prisons within their jurisdictions.
CJN Tanko also expressed regret over the large number of awaiting trial inmates in prisons.
