 at the Bauchi Custodial Centre were Thursday freed by the Administration of Justice Committee){kind=link}
By; Mohammed Kawu, Bauchi
No fewer than 26 awaiting trial inmates (ATM) at the Bauchi Custodial Centre were Thursday freed by the Administration of Justice Committee led by the State Chief Judge, Justice Rabi Talatu Umar.
Releasing the inmates at the committee’s cases review exercise at the Custodial Centre, Bauchi, the Chief Judge frowned at a situation whereby inmates are being kept languishing at the centre without proper records of trial.
Justice Rabi Talatu Umar stated, “Many of those released lacked records of trial either from the prosection or court. Some were even staying behind the correctional centre walls for years, 4, 5, 11 years without or were only once prosecuted before Court of Justice”.
She argued that in such a situation, authorities or any responsible person would find it extremely naive to see inmates being kept indifinately behind correctional centre walls, with some even sick for one ailment or the other.
Speaking shortly after the inmates release at the Custodial Centre, Chief Magistrate Safiya Musa warned them to henceforth be of examplary conduct in the larger society, and not to commit any chargeable offence for a stage back to the correctional center.
Chief Magistrate Safiya Musa explained that some of the ATM were unconditionally release because records of their trials were neither traceable with the prosection nor the court, hence their continued languishing in cells is a denial to freedom.
Safiya lamented, “If there isn’t any record on ground for the trial of an inmate, why the continued keeping such a person in cell. Some of you might have committed an offence, whereas the system runs faulty or improbability, thus opening him freedom gate”.
The Magistrate added, “You have now seen it all how life or livelihood is, especially with your long stay here, it is therefore advisable to find an unadulterated means of livelihood as you swing back into the larger society”.
“Should you have little or shakable heart to contain the misery or ups and downs of life or livelihood, or it could be easy for anyone of you here to stage a comeback to the correctional centre, for the law and order is widely stretched to catch any culprit in the society”, Safiya further warned the freed inmates.
Magistrate Safiya also enjoined the freed inmates to seek any lawful means of livelihood to fend for a living, and become a useful member of the society, as well as shun any act capable of lowering one’s right thinking member of the society.
She positioned the inmates, “It is now easy for any right thinking person to fend for a living, with men of substance engaging in any lawful business such as yam frying, vegetables selling, Okada riding, profitable labouring, and host of other jobs that could bring solace to anyone”.
The Chief Judge heading the administration of Justice Committee earlier on Wednesday visited the Azare Correctional Centre where she found that the inmates are often being prosecuted before the Court of Justices without unnecessarily keeping the ATM without trials, a twist lessining the committee’s works.
Resulting from the new development, the cases review committee didn’t even sit at Darazo, Misau, Jama’are and Ningi, having the Sharia Courts and Chief Magistrate Courts living up to their responsibilities of justice dispensation.
The Katagum brach chairman of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Barrister M.A Buhari commended the Chief Judge for her routine quarterly review cases of awaiting trial inmates which, he noted, propels the speedy dispensation of Justice in the Sharia Courts and Magistrates.
Barrister Buhari said, “Whenever the Administration of Justice Committee led by My Lord, the Chief Judge undertake cases review across correctional centres in the state, she exercises her power to see all the awaiting trial inmates, and the Sharia Court Judges and Magistrates are taking lessons from the visits to speed up cases dispensation”.
The Chief Judge, Justice Rabi Talatu Umar has while responding commended the Sharia Court Judges and Chief Magistrates for living up to their responsibilities of speedily dispensation of ATM’s cases, and urged them to maintain the tempo for a crimefree society
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