Rivers Chief Judge Pardon 14 Inmates From Prison To End 2024/2025 Legal Year

The Chief Judge of Rivers State, Justice Simeon Chibuzor-Amadi, has released fourteen inmates from the Port Harcourt Correctional Centre.

The inmates were freed during a gaol delivery exercise on Wednesday, as part of activities marking the end of the 2024/2025 legal year and the commencement of the 2025/2026 legal year.

Speaking at the end of the exercise at the maximum prison complex in port Harcourt,Justice Chibuzor-Amadi said those released were inmates who had spent long periods in custody without trial, had missing case files, had been detained beyond the legal period for their alleged offences, or whose cases deserved reconsideration under the law.

He explained that the exercise was aimed at ensuring that no individual suffers unjustly due to administrative lapses, procedural delays, or systemic inefficiencies in the justice system.

The Chief Judge also noted that the number of inmates awaiting trial at the Port Harcourt Correctional Centre has dropped significantly from about four thousand to less than one thousand under his watch

He reaffirmed the judiciary’s commitment to decongesting correctional facilities and called for collective responsibility in strengthening the justice system.He however advised the released inmates to turn a new leaf and contribute positively to society.

Also speaking,the state controller, Correctional Centre,Mr Felix Madumere commended the state chief judge for his commitment and dedication towards decongestion of the centre and assured of the continued cooperation of the agency and the state judiciary to ensure that the correctional centre.

The tide reports that with this latest exercise, the Chief Judge has so far released a total of forty-one inmates, while magistrates have freed one hundred and nine others bringing the total number of inmates released in the 2024/2025 legal year ended to one hundred and fifty.

Amadi Akujobi