Gist
Chief Judge In Oyo State Releases 44 Prisoners
Justice Munta Abimbola, the Chief Judge of Oyo State, on Wednesday freed 44 inmates of Abolongo Prison in Oyo State.
NAN reports that Munta had earlier released on Tuesday 30 inmates in Agodi prison in Ibadan, bringing to 74 inmates the total number of inmates released from both prisons in Oyo State.
Justice Abimbola said the reason for the release of prisoners was constitutionally to dis congest the prison.
She adding thta only 44 inmates out of 370 cases were worthy of the gesture after several consideration.
He said that 39 of them were released because they had exceeded the number of years stipulated for the offence they had committed.
“Three were released because they had earlier been granted bail by the court while the remaining two were released on health grounds.
“I urge the released inmates not to abuse the opportunity given to them by not going back to crime,’’ the chief judge said.
Tosin Akinrumoju, Oyo State Controller of Prison, disclosed that Abolongo prison was designed to accommodate 160 inmates but now had 455 inmates.
He added that while 76 out of the 455 cases have been convicted, 379 were awaiting trial, while stated that the visit of the chief judge would reduce the stress on the facility