By Bashir Hassan Abubakar
Bauchi State Chief Judge, Justice Rabi Talatu Umar has granted freedom to some awaiting trial inmates that have been in custody for about 4-6 years. The CJ also expressed her concerns over poor record keeping of some inmates that are awaiting trial in custodial facilities across the State.
Justice Rabi Umar also noted with concern that some of the awaiting trial inmates have not been presented to the courts for years, a situation that makes tracking of their records near impossible.
The Chief Judge was speaking recently while on her quarterly review visit that heralded the releasing of 14 awaiting trial inmates across some custodial centres in the state, describing the release as God’s intervention in their cases.
During the visit that took the chief judge to Tafawa Balewa, Darazo, Misau, Azare, Bogoro, Ningi, Jama’are and Bauchi correctional centres, the CJ released five (5) awaiting trial inmates at Tafawa Balewa, two (2) each at Misau and Azare while 14 regained freedom from the Bauchi centre.
The Chief Judge while commenting on some of the awaiting trial inmates whose litigation records were completely lost said, “We don’t know who brought them here”.
Justice Rabi Talatu Umar then counselled the released awaiting trial inmates to find legitimate means of livelihood.
Our correspondent reports that Justice Umar has undertaking a routine periodic visits to correctional centres across the state to review the cases of awaiting trial inmates, especially those that have stayed long in those centres without trial.