The Controller, Nigeria Correctional Service, Akwa Ibom Command, Mr Julius Ezugwu, said that about 2,413 out of 2,854 inmates were awaiting trials in the four correctional facilities across the state.
Ezugwu said this at a one-day capacity-building workshop for the Akwa Ibom State Administration of Criminal Justice Monitoring Committee (ACJMC) in Uyo on Friday.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the event was organised by the Law Hub Development and Advocacy Centre in collaboration with the MacArthur Foundation.
Ezugwu, who summed up the total number of inmates in their facilities at 2,854, added that the custodial centres in the state have been overcrowded.
He appealed for the domestication of the Administration of Criminal Justice Law (ACJL) in the state to help decongest custodial centres.
He said the large number of inmates awaiting trial was responsible for the congestion of the centres, stressing that the facilities were to be a place to reform convicts and not take care of awaiting trial persons.
“We have a total of 2, 854 inmates in the four facilities of the command, that is, Uyo, Ikot Ekpene, Eket, and Ikot Abasi, respectively.
“Out of the total number, we have about 441 convicts and 2,413 inmates awaiting trials.
“I want to say that the correctional service has been doing its part creditably, and I am happy that this workshop on ACJL will lighten the weight of the correctional service,” Ezugwu said.
In her remarks, the Akwa Ibom Chief Judge, Justice Ekaette Obot, said the domestication of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act by the Criminal Justice Law of the state would have a great impact on the criminal justice system in the State.
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