29 Freed From Sokoto Correctional Center, Remand Home
BY ANKELI EMMANUEL, Sokoto
No fever than 29 persons including minors have been freed from both the Sokoto State Correctional Center and Remand Home.
Those freed got their relief courtesy of the “EU-UNICEF,. facilitated by the Sokoto state Chief Judge Justice Muhammad Saidu Sifawa as empowered by law in accordance with the
Access to Justice for Vulnerable Children And Children On the Move”
Giving a breakdown of the painstaking job, Justice Sifawa said they have to visit the Correctional Centre and the Remand Home where records of such over stayed awaiting trial suspects were kept.
According to the State Chief Judge, the decongestion of prison exercise became very important after carefully studying the cases against some of them.
“The significance of the exercise is to review these cases and see how we can decongest the prisons. We have seen a lot of them, some do not even have records and in some cases they were not even arraigned before any Court hence there are no records. Therefore, we have to do the needful by releasing them”.
Those freed were equally given trainings on skills for self reliance, medical attention and psychosocial counseling by experts for days.
Giving figures of those freed, Sokoto State Chief Judge, Justice Saidu Sifawa said, a total of 29 persons were regained their freedom.
“17 were freed from the custody of the Correctional Center and additional 12 freed from the Remand Home”.
While noting that, they consider factors such as absence of record amongst others to free some of the suspects, Justice Sifawa however added that there is a clause attached to some them as they have to be reporting back to the facility for officials of the center to monitor their behaviours and ascertain the genuineness of their repentance before final freedom.
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Speaking further, Justice Sifawa maintained that the decongestion exercise is a continuous one, assuring that they hope to repeat same before the end of the year.
Addressing the freed suspects, the State Coordinator of Legal Aid Council, Barrister Shetima Akilahel admonished them to see the favour as a divine one that will propel them into becoming better citizens afterwards.
He further thanked the EU-UN Access to Justice For Vulnerable Children and Children On The Move for such loafty initiative.
Barrister Shetima further admonished parents and the society not to abandon their responsibilities of ensuring collective sound moral upbringing for there wards.
In their separate reactions, both the parents of the freed suspects as well as the Officer-in-Charge of Sokoto Remand Home, Abubakar Ahmed Alkanci and Saidu Labbo, the Director of Social Welfare, from the State Ministry of Social Welfare jointly appreciated the gesture.
