Justice Marshal Umukoro, Chief Judge of Delta State, has said that about 180 inmates were currently on death row in the Warri Prison of the state.
Umukoro made the disclosure during a courtesy visit by the chairman and members of the Delta State Advisory Council on Prerogative of Mercy in his office in Asaba.
The chief judge, who expressed concern at the worrisome number of condemned criminals on death row in the prison, attributed the high rate of crimes in the state to family dysfunction.
He however, called for the relocation of the Warri Medium Prison to the outskirts of the Warri city as it is being practised in other parts of the world as well as advocating for constitutional amendment to remove prison from the exclusive legislative list.
He also called on the chairman of the Advisory Body, A.P.J. Okpakpor, who was the first Attorney-General of the state to be vigilant and professional in making their recommendations to the state government in the exercise of his powers of Prerogative of Mercy under section 212 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).
Umukoro urged members of the council to be guided by the statutory requirements while considering applications for granting of amnesty added that those to be considered must have either exhausted all his or her legal rights of appeal or is not interested in pursuing such right.
The chief judge listed grounds to be considered for recommendations to include when an inmate is discovered to have been wrongly convicted or on health ground.
He further advised for proper investigation of medical certificates of inmates before recommendations noting that medical certificates can be doctored with a view to misleading the council.
He however, charged members of the council to embark on prison visitation to ascertain claims by inmates who applied for amnesty before making their recommendations.
Earlier, the state chairman of Advisory Council on Prerogative of Mercy, A.P.J. Okpakpor described the judiciary as the last hope of both the rich and the common man.
Okpakpor, who opined that without the judgment of the Courts, the Council will be unable to discharge its statutory functions, added that the visit was to tap from the wealth of experience of the chief judge.
IDRIS UMAR MOMOH, ASABA
