Kogi - Ten inmates awaiting trial at the Federal Prison at Koton-Karfe in Kogi on Monday breathed their air of freedom, following the intervention of the state's Chief Judge, Justice Nasir Ajanah.
The chief judge, who also granted bail to one of the inmates, reviewed the warrants of 106 other inmates awaiting trial.
He said that the inmates who regained freedom were unnecessarily detained.
Ajanah said that most of the inmates were alleged to be members of a faceless gang of thieves without any concrete charge against them.
``The allegations were not in conformity with the provisions of the law,'' he said.
Ajanah expressed concern that the prison, built in 1934 for 50 inmates currently housed 134 inmates.
He said the inmates were made up of 28 convicts and 106 awaiting trial inmates, describing the prison as the `busiest’ in Kogi.
Ajanah said that even with its over-stretched facilities and weak structures, the facility was congested.
``When there is congestion, there are always attempts by prisoners to break jail,'' he said.
The chief judge said that prison congestion provided conducive environment for communicable diseases to thrive and spread.
He urged the Federal Government to either build another prison in Koton-Karfe or expand the existing one.
Ajanah appealed to officials involved in the administration of justice in the state to ensure quick dispensation of justice to avoid congestion of prisons.
NAN