Ogun State Indigenes Make Up 4.6% Of Prisoners Across The Five Prisons Of Lagos State

Most of the criminals in the five prisons of Lagos state are there based on stealing, the Lagos State Criminal Information System, January-March, 2019 edition has revealed.

This is even as Opeyemi Oke, the chief judge of Lagos State has banned jail sentence for petty offenders, as part of efforts to decongest the overcrowded Prison in the state.

This ban is taking effect from June 3, 2019, Naija News reports

The LSCIS also disclosed that a large chunk of those in the five prisons across Lagos state is from Ogun State origin. Of the total of 9,044 inmates in the prisons in Lagos State as of March, 422 are from Ogun State.

Oyo State came second with 359 of its indigenes in prisons in Lagos.

Lagos itself has 276 of its indigenes in custody, while Osun State came next with 208 indigenes as Punch reports.

Others states whose indigenes are in high numbers in prisons in Lagos State are Kwara, with 194 indigenes; Imo, with 191 indigenes; and Ondo, with 152 indigenes.

While there is none of the 36 states of the federation whose indigenes are not in prisons in Lagos State, Taraba State, with six indigenes, has the lowest figure.

The report revealed that 56 percent of the 9,044 inmates have no lawyers to represent them in court.

It identified Eti-Osa as the part of Lagos where most of the inmates were arrested for stealing.

The report listed Alimosho, Apapa, Lagos Mainland and Amuwo Odofin as the next four most notorious spots for stealing and cultism in Lagos State.

According to the report, though the five prisons in Lagos State have a combined holding capacity of 4,087, as of the end of March, 9,044 inmates, with 78 percent awaiting trial, were being held in them.

The report said the majority of the inmates have been admitted to bail in the sum of ₦5,000 but they continue to languish in the prisons for their inability to meet the bail.

Forty of the awaiting-trial inmates have spent between one and nine years in prison without being taken to court for their trial.

A total of 2,603 of the inmates, representing 80 per cent, are youths between the ages of 18 and 40 years.