The Chief Judge of Rivers State, Justice Simeon Chibuzor-Amadi, has released fourteen inmates from the Port Harcourt Maximum Security Custodial Centre.
The jail delivery exercise was held to mark the commencement of the 2026/2027 Legal Year of the Rivers State Judiciary.
Justice Chibuzor-Amadi said the inmates qualified for release because they had spent more time in custody than they would have served if convicted, while others had suffered prolonged detention due to delayed trials.
He said the action was taken in line with Section 1 of the Criminal Justice Release from Custody Special Provisions Act, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004, and Section 341 of the Rivers State Administration of Criminal Justice Law No. 7 of 2015.
According to him, some of the inmates had been in custody for years without trial due to the failure of the police and other security agencies to transmit case files to the Ministry of Justice for legal advice, while in some cases the files could not be traced.
The Chief Judge said the exercise was also aimed at decongesting the custodial centre.
He advised the freed inmates to live peacefully and responsibly in their communities, warning that a return to crime could deny them any future opportunity for clemency.
Justice Chibuzor-Amadi also cautioned them against being used as tools for political violence, especially as the political season approaches.
He further urged officials of the correctional centre to maintain confidentiality around inmate release processes to avoid tension within the facility.
In his remarks, the Controller of Corrections in Rivers State, Richard Moses-Williams, commended the Rivers State Judiciary for the intervention, noting that the exercise would help ease overcrowding at the Port Harcourt facility.
