Despite the provisions of section 296 of the 2015 Administration of Criminal Justice Act, ACJA, many accused persons in Akwa Ibom State have remained in prison custody awaiting trial for over 10 years.
The long wait has not only contributed to the congestion of prison cells but has put pressure on the staff, as well as the economic disposition of the Federal Government as the amount for feeding and medicals of those awaiting trial is overwhelming.
Investigations revealed that out of 3,047 inmates in Akwa Ibom State as at March ending, 2,559 are awaiting trial, while 488 have been tried and convicted.
Those in the awaiting trial lists are not only those who committed heavy offences but some innocent persons and others who allegedly engaged in various forms of misdemeanours.
There is a case of one Goodnews Isaiah, 26, an awaiting trial inmate of Eket Custodial Centre, who narrated before the Akwa Ibom State Chief Judge, Justice Ekaette Obot during her prison inspection how he was arrested since 2019 by police operatives on patrol while he was coming back from work.
According to Goodnews who said he worked with a bakery at Eket: “while I was coming back from work around 11 pm (as I was on evening shift), a police patrol van accosted me; I told them that I was coming back from work, they arrested me saying that I was an armed robber, that I was coming back from an operation. They took me to the station alongside other people they saw that night.
“Fortunately for others, they were later released after paying a huge amount to the police for bail but I still remained in custody because no one came for my bail since the incident in 2019. I have been praying to God to help me so that they will charge me to court.”
Also, one John Sunday Akpan charged with “unlawful Stealing” in Ikot Abasi custodial Centre narrated before the Chief Judge how his uncle got him arrested for cutting a bunch of plantain in their family farmland.
He claimed that his uncle who refused to give him his father’s portion of land told the officers to deal with him decisively, adding that he had stayed in prison custody for about three years without being taken to court.
On his part, a 29-year-old tricycle rider in Uyo custodial centre, Ephraim Udo narrated how his wife’s mother, a policewoman, ordered his arrest and incarceration for attempting to marry her daughter.
The prison entry book showed that the inmate has been in custody for four years without trial.
Udo explained, “My Lord, I have two children with the daughter of the policewoman. We have been in love for some years but the mother vowed that the daughter will not marry a ‘keke rider’. She therefore ordered his men to arrest me and they sent me to prison for over four years.”
