‘Judges contribute to prisons congestion’

Samuel Awoyinfa, Abeokuta

the Osile of Oke Ona Egba, Oba Adedapo Tejuoso, has accused judges of contributing to the congestion of prisons across the country.

He said this in an interview with newsmen after the Ogun State Governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, released one of the prisoners he pardoned, Segun Ogunsanya, to the monarch.

The monarch is the Chairman, Governing Council of the Prison Rehabilitation International.

Oba Tejuoso noted that judges in the country sent offenders to prisons without considering the number of inmates each prison could accommodate.

He said in advanced countries like the United States of America, judges had a working relationship with the prisons, noting that at every point, they knew the number of inmates in each of the facilities.

The monarch added, “Our prisons are congested. The prisons are on the exclusive list of the federation. I want to suggest that prison affair should be de-centralised.

“Judges in the country don’t consider the situation in the prisons. They just remand offenders there, and the state is not in charge. The judges do not bother.

“In Virginia in the United States of America, court is attached to the prison. The judge knows the number of inmates that the prison can take. But in Nigeria, anything goes.”

Oba Tejuoso, who also called on the Federal Government to modernise the prisons across the country, added that there was the need to improve on the welfare of prison inmates.

Talking to journalists about his ordeal, Ogunsanya admitted that he was a member of a secret cult, Ake, at the Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago Iwoye, saying he threatened a colleague, who reported him to the police, leading to his arrest.

The former final year Sociology student stated that he spent 15 years in prison before he got the governor’s pardon.

He said he was not caught with arms but was sentenced to death as a result of his behaviour in the court, which he alleged annoyed the judge.

He said, “Now, I have met Jesus Christ in the prison and I am a new being, old things have passed away.

“I want to dedicate my life to visiting campuses to talk to students about the evils of cultism.”

The Director-General, PREMI, Bishop Kayode Williams, who went to Ibara Prison, Abeokuta, and received Ogunsanya, said the organisation was committed to reformation, rehabilitation and restoration of ex-convicts.

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