Ibadan Correctional Facility overstretched - Oyo Controller

The Agodi Custodian Centre of the Nigerian Correctional Centre in Ibadan, Oyo State, formerly known as the Agodi Prisons, built in 1894, presently accommodates no fewer than 1,276, as against the 390 inmates it was originally designed to house.

The Oyo State Controller of Corrections, Mr Tosin Akinrujomu made this revelation on Wednesday as he welcomed the State Chief Judge, Justice Munta Abimbola, to the facility.

Justice Abimbola, who led top judicial officers, judges and magistrates, among other stakeholders in a decongestion exercise to the facility, noted that the new act that changed the name of the service also comes with additional responsibilities to cater to the inmates.

Abimbola said he was at the facility on the invitation of the custodial to look at how the cases of inmates, especially those awaiting trials, could be speedily dispensed with.

He revealed that currently, the State Judiciary was overworked, with each of the magistrate courts having before it, at least 300 cases; a situation that rolls up to even the High Court.

The Chief Judge stated that it was not the fault of the Judiciary or its officers that cases were prolonged or trials delayed, saying such happened due to a combination of factors.

According to Abimbola, the purpose of the visitation was to ensure speedy trials, decongest the already overstretched facility and also ensure that justice is seen to have been manifestly done to all parties concerned.