From Aniekan Aniekan, Calabar
The Chief Judge of Cross River State, Justice Akon Ikpeme, is scheduled to visit the five correctional centres in Cross River State as part of plans to decongest these facilities.
The correctional centres include the Calabar, Ikom, Ogoja, Obudu, Obubra, and Adim Correctional Centres.
Iquo Bassey-Ekanem, the Chief Registrar of the court, stated that the tour is an “exercise of the powers conferred on the Chief Judge of Cross River State by the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended).”
Justice Ikpeme will begin the visit at the Calabar Correctional Centre on Monday, 25th November 2024, followed by visits to the Ikom and Ogoja Correctional Centres on Wednesday, 27th November 2024. The Obubra and Adim Correctional Centres will be visited on Thursday, 28th November 2024.
The Chief Registrar also announced that inmates from the Ogoja and Obudu Correctional Centres are to be conveyed, along with all their relevant information and particulars, to the Ikom Correctional Centre for consideration of their cases on Wednesday, 27th November 2024.
According to data from the 13th edition of the Cross River State Judiciary Newsletter, published ahead of the 2024/2025 new legal year, Cross River State currently has about 1,069 inmates.
The newsletter reveals that the Calabar Medium Security Custodial Centre has the highest number of inmates, with 715 as of July 2024. Of these, 448 are awaiting trial, while 267 have been convicted.
This is followed by the Obubra Medium Security Custodial Centre, which houses 91 inmates as of July 2024. Among them, 83 are awaiting trial, and 8 have been convicted.