The chief judge in Oyo, Justice Iyabo Yerima, on Wednesday released 79 inmates from the Agodi Correctional Centre in Ibadan, in an effort to decongest the facility.

The released inmates include those awaiting trial for over four months, those charged with capital offences and who have waited two to five years for trial, and those on the sick roll.

Mr Yerima said Wednesday’s visitation would be the third time in 2025 she would be releasing inmates from the correctional facility.

“The exercise is just to assist in decongesting this facility; it is an exercise that is meant to be undertaken periodically. You know, as society is growing, so is the rate of criminality.

“You can expect that the population of inmates here is also growing. So, more than ever before, the need for us to visit this facility can never be overemphasised.

“This is a limited facility, yet the population is growing at a rate much higher than the space available here,” Mr Yerima said.

According to the chief judge, the decongestion exercise will also go a long way in reducing the pressure on the correctional officials.

Mr Yerima told the released inmates that God had found them worthy, urging them to make up their minds to walk with God, turn a new leaf, and avoid returning to crime.

The controller of corrections in the state, Ayoola Opadeji, urged the freed inmates not to take their freedom for granted but to make positive changes in their lives.

(NAN)