The Judiciary in Bayelsa on Wednesday organized a free medical outreach for the more than 700 inmates at the Okaka Correctional Centre, Yenagoa.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the exercise was part of various programmes lined-up by the judiciary to mark its 2024/2025 Legal Year in the state.
The Chief Judge, Matilda Ayemieye, said the outreach was necessary because of the first-hand information from some suspects in course of their trials and incidences of deaths of inmates in various correctional facilities.
Ayemieye said her office periodically received briefings on what was happening in the correctional facilities, hence the medical outreach.
Also speaking, the state Controller of Correctional Service, Hope Imoboa, thanked the Chief Judge for the gesture.
He described the medical outreach by the Chief Judge as first from a Chief Judge of a state in all commands where he had served.
Imoboa also commended Gov. Douye Diri of Bayelsa for giving directives to the state’s Ministry of Health to handle medical situations in the facilities .
He also noted that the medical outreach by the state judiciary was a pointer to the fruitful synergy the service had with the judiciary.
Similarly, the Team Lead for the outreach, Pharmacist Preye Enisuoh said thorough investigations and treatment of ailments were given to the inmates.
He lauded the Chief Judge for finding him and his team worthy to carryout the outreach, adding that though his professional association had previously been to the correctional facility for a similar event.
“Never in the history of his career has he been part of such a huge medical programme coming from the Judiciary.
“From the records given to us, there are about 750 inmates in this correctional facility. But this is the biggest medical outreach to the correctional facility at Okaka.
“I have previously been here with my professional association, but of course it wasn’t as big as this one coming from the office of the Chief Judge,” he said. (NAN)
