No fewer than 33 inmates of the Port Harcourt prisons have regained their freedom, as part of this year\u2019s jail delivery exercise carried out by the Chief Judge of Rivers State, Justice Adama Iyayi Lamikanra.
\nSpeaking during the exercise, Justice Lamikanra said the session was aimed at releasing those who were unlawfully detained and that it would help to decongest the prisons.
\nLamikanra said she had the constitutional powers to visit the facility and look at those who were unlawfully detained as well as those who had spent more than the required number of years if they were convicted.
\nShe said, \u201cWhat we have done today are the efforts of the federal and state governments to decongest the prisons. The Chief Judge of the State has the powers under the Criminal Justice Release Act to visit the prisons and see all those who were unlawfully detained or those who have spent more than the number of years they would have on conviction if they had taken trial.
\n\u201cWe grant some of them bail because their matters are ongoing in court. So, it is an effort we try to undertake quarterly or once a year to try and decongest the prisons. About 33 persons were discharged today,\u201d the Rivers CJ said.
\nJustice Lamikanra, however, advised those who benefited from the jail delivery to stay away from crime, urging them to be useful to themselves by looking for something genuine to do.
\n\u201dMany of you have spent a long time in prison. I noted that some of you were very young when you came here and you have spent about six to seven, eight years here. So, you can see that you have wasted your youth inside prison.
\n\u201cSo, as you have been discharged today and you go and start your life again, try and be of good behavior. Crime does not pay. Today you are lucky, you could go back to the crime and you will be killed. Or you come back here and you will die here. So, go and find something to do with your life. Go and look for work to do,\u201d she said.
\nEarlier in his address, the Deputy Controller of Prisons, Rivers State Prison Command, Felix Lawrence said the Port Harcourt Prisons originally built to accommodate 800 inmates, now houses over four thousand people.
\nLawrence said, \u201cThe open out of Port Harcourt Prisons this morning is 4,036 inmates against the statutory capacity of 804 inmates.
\nThe Awaiting Trial Inmates consist of 3, 426 males, 74 females, total 3,500 awaiting trial persons, while others are convicts,\u201d he said, while thanking the state government for the exercise.<\/p>\n

By:\u00a0Dennis Naku.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

No fewer than 33 inmates of the Port Harcourt prisons have regained their freedom, as part of this year\u2019s jail delivery exercise carried out by the Chief Judge of Rivers State, Justice Adama Iyayi Lamikanra. Speaking during the exercise, Justice Lamikanra said the session was aimed at releasing those who were unlawfully detained and that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[17],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n