Bauchi State Chief Judge, Justice Rabi Talatu Umar has granted pardon to 10 in mates awaiting trial in five different correctional centers.
The correctional centers are located in Azare, Misau , Jamaare, and Ningi.
Justice Rabi Talatu Umar, who is the head of a committee on criminal justice, released the inmates after reviewing their cases when she visited the correctional centers as part of her effort to decongest the correctional centers.
She observed that some cases that are civil in nature are being handled as criminals, such as the case of when someone who is owing another party the aggrieved person took the matter to court.
“I have always warned judges against doing that because there is no way for somebody who is indebted to a plaintiff would get the money to pay back while he is in custodial custody. There are ways and means by which one can recover such monies from the debtor because the procedure is quite explicit and better way of recovering money in civil matter.”
The Chief Judge advised particularly sharia court judges to refrain from doing the impossible.
Rabi also told the judges that it is difficult to establish whether somebody is a witch or not.
“As far as I am concern, it takes a witch to identify a witch, if you are not a witch how can you identify a witch’, But sometimes the people confess that they are witches, but somebody who denied being a witch, how would you establish that in a court of law, so it’s a technical thing, and I have always asked them to use wisdom in handling cases like that”.
She warned the released inmates not to allow themselves to come back to correctional centers again they should be good citizens and law abiding.
The emir of Misau Alhaji Ahmed Suleiman thanked the chief Judge for her effort to decongesr the prison and assured her their cooperation always.
