5th March, 2019
Justice Suleiman Dikko, Chief Judge of Nasarawa state, has discharged 14 inmates awaiting trial in Federal Prison, Lafia.
The inmates are: Likita Emmanuel, Baba Dogs, Ali Ibrahim, Henry Andrew, Abubakar Ali, Abubakar Danjuma, Nasiru Usman and Musa Yahuza.
Others are; Umar Ibrahim, Danladi Shabu, Ali Jubrin, Peter John, Mohammed Abdullahi and Ibrahim Lolo.
Dikko, who discharged the inmates on Tuesday, Lafia said the exercise was in line with the powers bestowed on him by the law.
He explained that the routine visit to prisons was aimed at decongesting the prisons and ensurer justice to inmates who were wrongly detained.
“Given the alarming rate of crime in the state, particularly in Mararaba-Abuja area, all hands must be on deck to ensure justice.
“So both the police and the state Ministry of Justice need to get more hands by employing more counsels in order to effectively prosecute the rising number of cases in the state,” he said.
He urged the police, prisons authority and other stakeholders to rise up to their responsibility in order to ensure speedy administration of justice in the state.
Dikko advised the discharged inmates to exhibit good character and avoid committing crime that would bring them back to the prison.
Earlier, Dalyop Patrick, Nasarawa State Controller of Prisons, said there were 528 prisoners out of which 187 of them were convicts and 341 awaiting trial.
The controller, who solicited assistance for prisons in the state, said they lacked sufficient vehicles to convey inmates to court to face trial.