By Agbaragu Timothy
Wild jubilation erupted at the Warri Custodial Centre ( popularly known as Okere Prison ) on Monday when the Chief Judge of Delta State, Honourable Justice Tessy Diai granted bail to an 18-years-old mother of two weeks old baby.
Justice Diai extended the compassion to Miss Beauty Obi who delivered her baby two weeks ago through caesarian session following a passionate appeal from the deputy controller ( DC ) of the Warri Custodial Centre.
The DC, Mr. Edo Joseph Lucky narrated the pathetic situation of the teenage mother and her boyfriend who were admitted at the centre when she was pregnant.
According to him, when young Miss Beauty was due for delivery she was taken to the Warri central hospital where she gave birth through caesarian session, but the little child was placed in an incubator for one week before it was reunited with the mother in custody.
Mr. Edo further disclosed that for the one week the child spent in the incubator the prison authority was spending #1000.00 ( One Thousand Naira) hourly which, informed his appeal to the Chief Judge to grant her bail to enable her go to her parents for proper care.
Justice Diai who generously assisted Miss Beauty Obi with the sum of #20,000.00 granted her bail with the following conditions: #250, 000.00 ( Two Hundred and Fifty Thousand Naira) with one surety in like sum, the surety to be resident within jurisdiction of the trial court, deposed to affidavit of means and provide national identity card NIN number.
While narrating the circumstances that brought her to the centre, the 18-years- old mother who hails from Obingwa in Imo State said that the Police arrested her and the boyfriend at where he was about to sell a stolen phone.
The teenage mother whose mother is from Kwale in Ndokwa West Local Government Area of Delta State who claimed that she was unaware of how her man got the phone, continued that she was innocent of the armed robbery charge slammed against her, even as she thanked the CJ for the financial assistance.
Out of the 539 warrants of inmates reviewed, the Chief Judge also discharged five, stating that those released was based on the advice of the Director of Public Prosecutions following their findings that those people had no case to answer.
Among them were Lofore Difference ( 37 ), Innocent Okpaghe ( 37 ), Umukoro Kingsley ( 51 ) and Chenago Wisdom ( 29 ) who were charged with various offences ranging from armed robbery and kidnapping and murder.
She lauded everyone who made the visit successful, especially the Judge of High Court 4 that just started hearing criminal cases and some of them were ready for judgement.
” Those are the kind of encouraging news I like to hear. I thank His Lordship and I thank the prosecutors from the Ministry of Justice who made that possible, ” Justice Diai stated.
Earlier in a welcome address, the deputy controller of Warri Custodial Centre, Mr. Edo Lucky had disclosed that as at Monday, June 26, 2023 the centre had a lock up of 1001 comprising of 444 convicts and 557 awaiting trial inmates.
While expressing confidence that the visit of the CJ would lead to the release of deserving inmates, Mr. Edo disclosed that the Warri Custodial Centre covers 69 courts in various local government areas of the state.
