Rivers Government frees 22 inmates from prisons

Twenty-two detainees from the Ahoada and Port Harcourt, Rivers State, prisons of the Nigerian Correctional Service, have been released.

Inmates who were offered fines of less than one million naira after their cases were resolved were among those who were freed.

However, the detainees’ fines were covered by the Rivers State Government.

Chief Magistrate Rita Oguguo, speaking on behalf of the state’s chief judge, Justice Simeon Chibuzor Amadi, said that the inmates’ release is part of the state’s efforts to decongest correctional facilities during an event for the inmates’ release from the Port Harcourt Correctional Centre.

Oguguo also noted that the state’s move to relieve prison overcrowding was a result of a meeting between the Minister of Interior and governors.

She urged the recipients to make good use of their new freedom, warning that going back to jail could ruin their chances of receiving another gift in the future.

‘The Government of Rivers State, through the Attorney General, Ministry of Justice, has paid the fine for some convicts in order to decongest the Port Harcourt Correctional Centre,’ she said. The judicial system is here to ensure that prisoners who have paid their fines are really released. This practice fits in with what is occurring on a broader scale.

The Governors Forum and the Minister of the Interior have made the decision to reduce overcrowding in prisons around the country.

To achieve this goal, governors have been urged to pay the fines of prisoners at correctional facilities, at least for those whose total is less than $1,000,000.00. And the government of Rivers State has made that happen.

The detainees will be freed as soon as we arrive. We are grateful to the Chief Judge of Rivers State for ordering the release of the prisoners.

We have certain convicts who have been pencilled for fine, but out of the 13 of them, just four are still residing in the Maximum Security Custodial Centre, Port Harcourt,” said Alex Oditah, controller of the Nigerian Correctional Service in Rivers State. The decongestion team released four of the remaining ones this afternoon.

As he continued, he stated, “We want to thank the executive governor of Rivers State for coming to our aid and making this day a reality in the lives of the inmates.”

The decongestion event was attended by representatives from the Nigerian Bar Association, the Department of Public Prosecution, the Human Rights Group, and the Federation of International Female Lawyers.