Pro bono service: Lawyer secures release of 13 inmates in Taraba
Pro bono service: Lawyer secures release of 13 inmates in Taraba
By Sylvanus Viashima, Jalingo
A human rights lawyer Barrister John Okezie has secured the release of 13 inmates detained without trial in Taraba State through probono service.
Okezie who disclose this to journalists in Jalingo on Tuesday said that the Justice Maskur Salisu of the Federal High Court in Jalingo granted the judgement in favour of the 13 detainees on 24/09/2025 after he filed a case of breach of fundamental human rights for them.
He noted that the court has awarded monetary damages to most of the clients against the Nigerian Police Force ranging from Two to Six Million Naira.
According to Bare. Okezie, some of the inmates released are Abubakar Ibrahim who has been in detention for without trial for a year and was awarded ₦3,000,000 damages by the court.
Others include Usman Abdul, Habu Adamu,Shehu Abubakar, and Muhammad Abubakar who have all served 4 years without trial, and Aminu Abubakar (1 year), Victor Moses (3 years), Idi Dhoni (6 years) and Ayuba Hello (1 year).
Also freed was Bello Umar who served 2 years and secured a 3 Million Naira damage again the Nigerian Police Force, ISA Bakari who spent 3 years in detention and Abdulsalami Musa who spent a year in illegal detention.
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Bare. Okezie noted that the Nigerian Correctional Centres were littered with persons who have no business being in detention, making the centres unnecessarily overcrowded and called on the Federal and State governments to urgently address the ugly trend of detaining persons without a fair trial.
He said that he was moved to do the services to help decongest the prisons and secure justice for those who were unjustly incarcerated as well as help to decongest the prisons.
He urged the freed detainees to use the opportunity to have a second chance at life and use it well as they “may not be so lucky if they ever make their way back to this prison or anyone at that. This is an opportunity to live a better life that benefits you and the society at large”
