The Chief Judge of Nasarawa State, Justice Aisha Bashir-Aliyu, has freed 167 inmates across the five custodial centres in the state.
Bashir-Aliyu pardoned the inmates during an official visit to the custodial centres in Lafia, Wamba, Nasarawa and Keffi local government areas of the state.
Speaking at the end of the visits on Thursday in Lafia, Justice Bashir-Aliyu said that the tour of the facilities was in line with the extant laws.
She further stated that the move was also in compliance with President Bola Tinubu’s order to decongest custodial centres in the country.
The chief judge pointed out that the law empowers her to go round the custodial facilities from time to time to review cases of awaiting trial inmates to ensure that justice was served.
“The exercise is aimed at seeing to the health and well-being of the inmates, to free those wrongly incarcerated or whose jail terms are more than the punishment they were charged for.
“The prisons are not places meant to punish the inmates, but to reform them and make them better persons afterwards.
“This is also part of President Tinubu’s directive that the custodial centres be decongested from time to time.
“So far, we have released a total of 167 awaiting trial inmates; 49 in Lafia, 33 in Wamba, 16 in Nasarawa, 69 in both the old and modern centres in Keffi,” she said.
She urged members of the public to accept and support the freed inmates as they reintegrate into the society.
