Prisons: Bauchi reviews fate of inmates

Bauchi State government is carrying out a review of some cases to determine the fate of those involved.

The cases are those of inmates sentenced to amputation of limbs or stoning to death under the Sharia legal system in Bauchi State.

A team of lawyers is already studying their cases.

The development was made known on Friday by the Bauchi State Chief Judge, Justice Rabi T. Umar, when the Controller of Prisons Bauchi State Command, CP Sulaiman T Sulaiman paid her a courtesy call in her office.

According to a statement signed by the Public Relations Officer, Bauchi State Prisons Command, ASP Adam Abubakar Jibrin, the Bauchi State Chief Judge said she was aware of the increasing number of such cases in the prisons of the state.

The statement said noting that some of them had already spent over 13 years without having their sentences executed, Justice Umar promised to meet the state governor over the issue.

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She expressed her satisfaction over the good working relationship between the Nigerian Prisons Service and the State judiciary.

She also disclosed that before the end of 2017, she would visit the prisons in the state as her 3rd quarter jail delivery exercise.

Earlier in his remarks, the Controller of Prisons Bauchi State Command, CP Sulaiman T Sulaiman, stated that the purpose for his visit was to introduce himself to the Chief Judge having assumed duty recently in the state.

Sulaiman said there were ten inmates with cases of amputation and six others on death row by stoning languishing in the prisons for more than a decade.

He noted that he had since written to the Bauchi State governor calling his attention to the plight of the affected inmates.

He said he had the hope that their cases would soon be determined.

Sulaiman praised the Chief Judge for her frequent visits to prisons in the state through the administration of Criminal Justice Committee.

He noted that the committee was helping the prisons towards decongestion.