From Olanrewaju Lawal, Ilorin
The Kwara State Criminal Justice Committee has released some inmates awaiting trial including an underage boy, sixteen year old girl accused of adultery and a man, who was accused of practicing juju.
Ayinla Bamigbola, the Chief Judge of Kwara state said they were in prison to make sure that those who ought not to be in prison do not continue to be there.
He said, “We have followed the law by which they are here to make sure that anybody who is unjustly or unlawfully here, is released and that some people who have spent more than the time they would have spent even if they were convicted, are not allowed to continue to be in prison.”
The Chief Judge added that the action was in accordance with the law. He said, “We have followed the law which says that if we discover that anybody is in prison unlawfully, we are bound to release such person.
According to the Justice Committee and one of the High Court judges, the most interesting cases are that of the woman that was accused of adultery, the man that was accused of invoking juju and the 16 year old school boy.
The committee added that their cases did not warrant such offences against them. “That is why we said they should be released. If the police are serious, they could go and re-arrest them but they have nothing or correlation between their detention in custody and the offence they were alleged to have committed”, the committee maintained.
