20 inmates regains freedom at Ikoyi prison

Twenty prisoners from Ikoyi prison regained freedom yesterday as the Chief Judge of Lagos State, Justice Olufunmilayo Atilade visited the prison as part of activities marking the beginning of the 2016/2017 legal year.

In her address, the Chief Judge said a total of 104 names of inmates were submitted by the Prison Decongestion Committee headed by Justice Oluwatoyin Ipaye for consideration, out of which only 20 are worthy.

The CJ further said that the prison visit is backed by the Criminal Justice(Release from Custody) ,Special Provisions Act, Cap C40 2004 Laws of the Federation.

“The visit is one of the key pillars of my administration to regularly visit the custodial institutions of Lagos State with a view to granting amnesty to eligible and qualified inmates.’ She added.

Atilade also lament at the high number of inmate in the prison and she averred that; A number of factors have contributed to the large number of awaiting trial inmates  and these include ongoing investigations by police. She added that the time lapse between the issuance of the DPP’ s advice and filing of the case in court, operational delays such as transportation from prison to court and lack of legal representation .”

According to Justice Atilade, a total of 265 inmates have been released from prison by her administration since her inauguration as CJ in 2014. She added that 37 inmates were released between September 2014 and September 2015 from Ikoyi and Kirikiri prisons while 228 were also released between September 2015 and September 2016.

She urged the newly freed inmates to be of good behaviour and admonished them to “go and sin no more”.

The Deputy Comptroller of Prison (DCP), Ikoyi Prison, Ezugwu Julius, in his speech also lament the challenge of over population of inmates at the Ikoyi Prison.

According to him; ” Ikoyi prison was built in 1955 with a capacity of 800 inmates. However, our open out today stands at 2,358 inmates with awaiting trial persons numbering 2,037 out of which 321 inmates are convicts,” he said.

He urged the CJ to ‘ help stem the tide of awaiting trial person’s phenomenon and ultimately decongest our prisons’ through speedy conclusion of cases in courts.

Julius, also said inmates at the prison have been trained in various skills such as soap making, catering, among others, aimed at making them better when they regain their freedom.