The Chief Judge of Oyo State, Justice Munta Abimbola, has released 100 inmates of the Agodi Correctional Centre Ibadan, including nine persons charged for 2020 #EndSARS protests in the state.

Also released was a 16-year-old boy (juvenile) charged with alleged murder.

Justice Abimbola, on Tuesday, said the boy is underage and could be more hardened if he continued to stay in prison.

He added that the boy’s mother had undertaken to take him back for rehabilitation while he (Justice Abimbola) would monitor him.

The judge released the first batch of 58 inmates on Monday and released the second batch of 42 inmates on Tuesday.

The releases were on the recommendations of the Oyo State Monitoring Committee on the Administration of Criminal Justice Law led by him.

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Justice Abimbola said the committee considered cases and lists of inmates brought by the Correctional Centre, NGOs, and the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Ibadan, on prerogative of mercy.

He stated that age, health challenges, and prolonged detention were the three major criteria considered in releasing the beneficiaries.

The Chief Judge noted that the exercise was also in tune with his power of release and prerogative of mercy to aid prison decongestion.

Justice Abimbola expressed worry at the number of awaiting-trial-persons and called on lawyers to live up to their responsibility of protecting the rights of citizens.

While releasing those in detention over #EndSARS protests, Justice Abimbola declared that an end had come to #EndSARS cases in the state.

On his part, the Comptroller of Prisons at the Agodi Correctional Centre, Sunday Ogundipe, described the exercise as historic for him being his first experience.

He thanked the Chief Judge and his team for meeting the need to decongest the prison.

He added that the Agodi Correctional Centre has capacity to hold only 339 inmates, but had no fewer than 1,109 inmates.

The Star