Chief Judge begs state governors to sentence prisoners to death

The chief judge of Delta state, Marshal Umukoro, says the
signing of the death warrant would help reduce prison congestion and serve as deterrent to others Umukoro calls 
for synergy between the police, prisons and the courts in 
order to boost justice administration.

The Chief Judge of Delta state, Marshal Umukoro, has 
urged state governors to sign the death warrant of
 inmates on death roll in order to decongest the prisons.

Umukoro who gave the charge on Wednesday, February 1, in
Ibadan during the 2017 Aquinas’ Day colloquium of Dominican
Institute said signing the death warrant would reduce prison
congestion, and served as deterrent to others.
At the lecture titled: The Judiciary and Criminal Justice System:

Odds and Ends,” Mr. Umukoro said recent statistics from 
the National Human Rights Commission, NHRC, indicated 
that no fewer than 1,612 inmates are on death sentence
 in Nigeria prisons.

The chief judge also called for synergy between the 
police, prisons and the courts in order to boost justice administration.

He said: “Some criminal cases have been hanging without
progress for over a year in some courts due to transfer of
Investigative Police Officer (IPO) or as a result of IPO going 
on short course.

“Some courts too do not cooperate with the police and
 the prison to expeditiously dispose of criminal cases.

“This does not only lead to unnecessary waste of time,
 but also greatly affects the disposition of the accused
 person and the witnesses who look forward to seeing 
the end of the case."