The chief judge of Ebonyi State, Justice Elvis Ngene, Tuesday, released twelve inmates of Afikpo Custodial Centre during a jail delivery.
The chief judge said the release was part of the powers conferred on him by the 1999 Constitution. He further said it was aimed at decongesting the custodial centre.
In his words, “The exercise is to grant freedom to those who may have overstayed their sentence if they had been convicted.
“The exercise is also to grant bail to those who have been in custody over minor cases which are bailable offences.
“The jail delivery is not for those standing trial for capital offences or those whose cases are already before courts of competent jurisdictions,” Ngene said.
InsightnaijaTV gathered that the release was the first to be exercised by Justice Ngene.
A breakdown of the exercise showed that twenty-three cases were heard; two out of the twelve freed inmates were discharged while ten were released on bail with eleven inmates further remanded in custody.
