Delta chief judge frees 47 sick inmates from Ogwashi – Uku prison
Nosa Akenzua, Asaba
Forty-seven inmates of Ogwashi Uku Prison in Delta state were on Monday set free at by the state Chief Judge, Justice Marshall Umukoro in continuation of his visit to prisons in the state.
Among the inmates freed by the chief judge were those suffering from one form of cancer or the other while 22 others were said to be suffering from some strange ailments.
All the sick inmates are presently receiving treatment at various hospitals across the state.
A visibly angry Justice Umukoro condemned the unnecessary delay in the investigation of cases by the police, questioning the rationale behind the continued detention of suspects who cannot stand trial due to ill -health, stating that such suspects constitute unnecessary financial burden on the state.
Justice Marshall Umukoro said that the released 47 inmates were among the 561 remand warrants reviewed from two prisons, pointing out that their release was predicated on ill- health, unjustifiable long detention in prison custody and for want of diligent prosecution among others.
He said that “the purpose of the prison visit is to reiterate government’s desire to ensure that persons awaiting trail do not spend their whole lives in prison custody, we must ensure that those here in the prison are remanded by courts of competent jurisdiction having allegedly committed an offence known to law.
“We shall also look at the health of the inmates and know whether they can stand trial or not because it’s the living that will undergo trial.
We should also look at the ages of the inmates because we don’t want to support or be part of the process where juveniles are brought to prison and if we found such persons in the prisons, we shall release them and make an appropriate order for such an individual to be remanded in the remand home in Sapele or elsewhere in the state.”
The chief judge made it clear that the visitation exercise was not meant to throw the prisons doors open for persons awaiting trial, especially those who were involved in violent crimes such as kidnapping, armed robbery and rape.
