13 Prisoners Grant Bail In Anambra State

The Anambra Chief Judge, Justice Peter Umeadi,  on Wednesday, June 3, 2015, granted bail to 13 Awaiting Trail Inmates at the Onitsha medium prison.

Of  those granted bail, 10 are males and three are females whose offences ranged from alleged murder and conspiracy, robbery   to attempted kidnap.

Justice Umeadi directed that one  Naomi Etim  aged 23 at the time of her detention and  hails from Ikot Ekpene in Cross River State, detained   for three years and eight months for alleged sale of her son be taken to her village by her counsel and the prison authorities and handed over to the head of her clan due to her mental state.

Also  released on bail was 36 years old  Ifeoma Onwuaghalu who has been in the detention for four years for alleged murder of her husband during a brawl, but the husband family was said to have forgiven her and  applied to discontinue the matter.

Others granted bail were Onyemachi Obinweaku, detained when she was 15 years  for abandoning her two months old baby, and Ifeanyi Okeke, 15 years at his detention  after the person he fought with died about two weeks after but has stayed in the prison cell for one and  a half years .

Although only 13 were granted bail out of many who were qualified, the Chief Judge said that the essence of the visit was more of  interventionist and not to clear all the cases.

According to him, the visit  was to  have a feel of  the inmates who are in the prison cell and how the wheel of justice machinery has been running, saying that from his observation it could run better.

He lamented a situation where those concerned with justice administration bring suspects to court unnecessarily without adequate information on them.

He said that such practice put the suspects in the cell longer than necessary and Judges in dilemma because if they release the suspects you will incur the anger of the people, wondering how a kidnap suspect  would be put in cell for eight years  by Police without being prosecuted.

Justice Umeadi urged the media to help the judiciary  to  fight delay in justice delivery by explaining to the public when they grant bail to overstayed suspects.

In an interview with  the Controller of Prisons in Anambra State, Ksali Oladipo Yusuf, canvassed for regular visit by the Chief Judges to the prisons to addresses many cases  that have been left unattended to.

He called on the judges, magistrates  and other stakeholders in the justice delivery to be up and doing  in  address the issue of missing files and decongestion of cases, which will in turn decongest prisons in the country.