Justice Godwin Ollor of the Rivers State High Court sitting in Port Harcourt has declined to hear a suit filed by the Rivers State government seeking the setting aside of a judgment he earlier delivered which released one hundred and fifty prisoners awaiting trial from Port Harcourt Correctional Contre.
Justice Ollor had on December 19 2020, delivered a judgment releasing one hundred and fifty inmates after they had spent more than eight to nine years in prison without appearing in court for trial all through their remand.
The release of the inmates follows a fundamental human rights suit against the Commissioner of Police, Attorney General of the state, Comptroller of Prisons, Rivers State Command and the Chief Registrar of Rivers State Judiciary by a lawyer, Nasiru Ibiloye; and his organisation, ‘Access To Freedom International’.
According to Ibiloye, his organisation had gone to the facility to ensure that the inmates were treated fairly when it was discovered that the facility was overstretched and some inmates have overstayed without having their day in court.
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He said, “As an NGO, we went to the prison yard to check the amenities and ensure that inmates are treated fairly. We are building a library for them. In the course of doing these things, we discovered that the prison was overstretched.
“Some people have spent 10 years, some 15 years. We asked for their list. We first applied for their charge sheet. We could not get the charge sheet until the court made an order against the Chief Registrar.
“At the end of the day, judgement was delivered and the court ruled that all the inmates be released unconditionally.”
Justice G. O. Ollor had while delivering a judgment also ordered the four defendants in the case to pay N100, 000 to each of the inmates for their continued detention and breach of their fundamental human rights.
However, instead of appealing the decision to a higher court, the state government on Wednesday asked the judge to set aside his earlier ruling.
During the Court Proceeding, Justice Ollor ordered that the case file be transmitted to the Chief Judge of the state for re-assignment, noting that his reason to decline on hearing the matter is personal.
