Three persons in detention at the Awka Custodial Center have been set free by the Anambra State Chief Judge, Justice Onochie Anyachebelu, as he concluded the 2023 jail delivery exercise.
The beneficiaries of the jail delivery exercise include Chukwuemeka Ochife, whose defense lawyer told the court that he has been in detention for over a year; without any charge pending against him, twenty-eight-year-old Richard Ufuo, who has spent over five years over rape allegation, nineteen-year-old Uchenna Okafor, who has spent four years and seven months in detention, and whose defense lawyer said there is no charge filed against him since 2019 he was remanded.
Justice Anyachebelu also granted bail to Elizabeth Onwurah; who is accused of stealing her son’s gold; and Nkem Emebo, who is accused of murder; alongside three others.
Justice Anyachebelu however denied bail to a fifteen-year-old Chidera Eze, who is facing armed robbery charge, sixty-three-year-old Chukwuma Nwofor, who has spent a year in detention over allegation of killing his younger sister, sixty-year-old Ofomah Ojeh, who has spent a year over allegation of raping a minor, and John Umenihe, who is accused of indecent assault on a five-year-old girl.
Speaking after hours of court proceedings, Justice Anyachebelu explained that the routine exercise helps to look into awaiting trial cases, cases involving juveniles, very elderly men and women, the sick and those whose cases have been stalled, adding that a lot has been achieved in terms of decongesting correctional facilities and dispensing justice during the exercise.
He, however, frowned at incidents of missing case files, and urged all in the justice sector to sit up and bring lasting solutions to the problem.
Assistant Controller General of Corrections Zone G, Benin City, in charge of Edo, Delta, Anambra, Enugu and Ebonyi States, Friday Ovie, who was in the state for his fourth quarter inspection visit to correctional facilities, appreciated Justice Anyachebelu for the efforts to decongest the facilities, saying that it is in line with the objectives of the Minister of Interior and the Controller General of Corrections.
Contributing, the Deputy Controller of Corrections in charge of Awka Custodial Centre, Solomon Uba, said that the Chief Judge’s orders would be carried out without delay, urging the freed inmates to use the skills they acquired at the facility to become responsible members of the society henceforth.
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