Lagos Chief Judge frees 233 Kirikiri prison inmates as Condemned criminals kicks

The freed prisoners

It was a day of drama yesterday at the Kirikiri Maximum prisons when a group of condemned criminals launched a protest after the chief Judge of Lagos, Justice Ayotunde Philips, set free 233 Awaiting Trial inmates.

The condemned criminals complained that it was not right for them to have been left out of the release programme, which was part of the activities to mark the beginning of a new legal year.

One of the criminals, Williams Owodo, who said he had been on the death row for 18 years at the Kirikiri Maximum Security prison stunned all when he declared: “They are releasing those who will still come back to prison. But some of us who have been condemned have gone to the National Open University and trained in one vocation. We have shown remorse and there is no way we can go back to crime” He said they should have been considered to be part of the gesture.

The CJ, whose first port of call was the Maximum Security Prisons first, was received by its Deputy Comptroller, Tinuoye Olumide.

The deputy comptroller complained of the congestion in the Maximum Security Prison because many inmates had not been sentenced.

“We have inmates who have spent more than 12 years awaiting trial. We look at it as injustice. It is not as if they have offended. In fact, most have not offended. But it is not justice if they have not been sentenced.

“The Maximum Prison is supposed to be for high profile offender but there are even petty offenders here,” said the Prison Deputy-Comptroller.

In her response the chief judge said “We hope to release inmates who should not be inmates. We have a maxim in law that it is better to have 10 guilty men go free than to punish one innocent man.”

She promised to visit the female prison and Ikoyi Prison in two or three months’ time.

She thereafter released the 130 inmates at Maximum Prison pursuant to Section 1(1) of the Criminal Justice Release From Custody Act 2007 of the Laws of the Federation.

At the Medium Security Prison the CJ was received by its Deputy-Comptroller, Mr. Tunde Ladipo who also complained of congestion. He said there were 2,502 inmates in the prison. The chief judge released 103 inmates.