The Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Ibrahim Muhammad has directed all Chief Judges (at the federal and state levels) to urgently take steps to decongest prisons across the country as part of measures to contain the spread of the coronavirus.
In a circular issued on Friday, Justice Muhammad who is also the Chairman of the National Judicial Council (NJC), directed the Chief Judges to ensure that criminal cases were speedily attended to, while they are also required to visit prisons within their jurisdictions.
The CJN, who regretted the large number of awaiting trial inmates in prisons, said: “it has become imperative for your lordships to embark on immediate visit to all custodial/correctional centres within your respective states to identify and release deserving inmates, where that has not been done already.”
