The Chief Judge of Akwa Ibom State, Justice Ekaete Obot, has ordered the release of 44 inmates, including two females, across correctional facilities in the three senatorial districts of the state.
Six of the inmates regained freedom in the Ikot Abasi centre, five in the Eket custodial centre, and 11 were freed in the Ikot Ekpene centre, while 24 inmates, including two females, were pardoned in the Uyo custodial centre.
The inmates were freed during the CJ’s 2024 first inspection visit to the correctional centres in the state. Obot, who went through all the case files at the Correctional Chapel in the Uyo Centre yesterday, observed that most of the beneficiaries had minor offences and had stayed in custody for too long without trial, adding that this was enough punishment for the minor offences they had committed.
The offences range from stealing palm fruits, and cassava, and assault to beating and fighting, among others. Others were released on compassionate and health grounds.
One Otuekong Essien accused of stealing cassava tubers who had stayed up to four months in custody suffered from perforated ulcers and appendicitis, as certified by the custodial doctor, and was released on health grounds at the Ikot Abasi Centre. 28-year-old Shadrach Hanson, who had spent over one year in custody for stealing his mother’s cooking pot, was also set free.