How prisoner died few days to freedom in Awka • Anambra Chief Judge angry, queries DPP

Justice Umeadi

An armed robbery suspect, Mr. Ndubuisi Beluolisa, who was to be freed by the Anambra State Chief Judge, Justice Peter Umeadi, during a jail delivery service in Awka, was reported to have died few days to his released.

Beluolisa was one of the four inmates under the ‘very sick’ category; their cases were to be treated compassionately by the Chief Judge, who had been on jail delivery service in prisons for about a month.

When Beluolisa was called to appear, the audience was shocked when the prison doctor, Dr. Frank Uzor, informed the Chief Judge that the suspect died some days ago.

The doctor said, “At a point, Ndubuisi started losing weight and we took him to the Amaku Specialist Hospital and took samples of his sputum for analysis, but he later died. We suspect he died of pulmonary tuberculosis.”

Records showed that Beluolisa had on July 9, 2010 applied for bail after the state commissioner of police forwarded his file to the court.

Apparently angered by the situation, the Chief Judge had to question why the deceased was kept in detention for further six years after he applied for bail.

The state Director of Public Prosecution, DPP, Mr. Osunkwo, told the Chief Judge that one T.C. Obuekwe was handling Beluolisa’s file, saying that he did not know the problem that made the case to linger for six years.

Regretting that nothing happened after the police forwarded the case file to the DPP, Justice Umeadi directed that the family of the deceased should be written to inform them of Baluolisa’s demise.

He also ordered the DPP to do a letter to his office to explain what happened since the relevant officers were passing the buck on the circumstances that led to the detention of the suspect for six years without trial.

There were over 40 inmates in the prison who had spent between eight and six years without trial.

Among those discharged by the Chief Judge for having stayed too long without trial were Garba Michael from Plateau State, who was charged with illegal possession of firearms in 2008 and whose case file could no longer be traced, and Amaechi Ede, who was charged with burglary in 2010.

Others were Nafiu Mohammed, who had been in detention for eight years; Emmanuel Sampson, who has been in detention without trial for seven years and eight months and Chigozie Udogu also detained without trial for five years and six months.

Twelve others were granted bail during the jail delivery exercise.


Source: South Eastern News