Keffi, Nasarawa State — In a bold step to decongest correctional facilities and correct injustices within the justice system, the Chief Judge of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Justice Husseini Baba-Yusuf, on Friday ordered the release of 30 inmates awaiting trial at the Keffi Medium Security Custodial Centre.

 

The judge, who personally reviewed individual cases during an official visit, stated that many of the freed inmates had no legal basis for remaining in detention.

 

“We are here to give hope to the hopeless. People who have no business being behind bars must not be kept even for a day,” Justice Baba-Yusuf said.

 

The Chief Judge blamed custodial congestion on delays in the judicial process, police inefficiencies, and the logistical hurdles correctional officers face in transporting inmates to court. He pledged that similar review exercises would take place at other facilities, including those in Kuje and Suleja.

 

Mrs. Lucy Abagi, CEO of the Public and Private Development Centre (PPDC), lauded the initiative and revealed heartbreaking stories of detainees unable to meet bail conditions as low as N20,000 and women incarcerated for resisting abuse. She called for civil matters to be kept out of correctional facilities.

 

Also speaking, Mrs. Chioma Onyenucheya-Uko, Chairperson of FIDA Abuja, criticized the abuse of power that keeps many, especially women, unlawfully detained. She reaffirmed FIDA’s commitment to providing legal education and free legal aid.

 

Earlier, the Controller of the Keffi Centre, Mr. Yau Ibrahim, praised the Chief Judge’s action, noting that the high population of awaiting-trial inmates remains the facility’s biggest challenge.