Niger State Chief Judge, Justice Halima Ibrahim Abdulmalik, has charged all relevant stakeholders to, as a matter of urgency, expedite action in handling cases in the various courts.
Justice Halima stated this when she paid a visit to the New Medium Security and Correctional Centre, Minna, as part of the 2024 Chief Judges' Visit to Custodial Centres in the state.
She said that the lives of the people in detention were important and at stake, and there was a need to give them fair and quick trials.
According to her, the situation of missing case files and their duplicates was making the court release inmates awaiting trials unnecessarily.
Therefore, she directed that there should be synergy between the legal department of the police, the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department (SCIID), and the office of the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) in the Ministry of Justice to ensure that they tie up their documents for quick administration of justice.
During the visit, six inmates serving various jail terms were pardoned and released based on a recommendation of their remorsefulness and good character.
She charged them to desist from wrongdoing that would return them to jail.
Also, some inmates were given bail and will continue to appear in court until their judgement is delivered, while others were discharged for lack of proof to continue with their cases.