Touts, fraudsters present fake documents to bail defendants, pervert justice— Ogun Chief Judge

….2800 regained freedom since 2021

The Chief Judge of Ogun State, Mosunmola Dipeolu, has bemoaned the rate at which touts and fraudsters presented themselves as bondsmen, tendering fake documents to stand sureties for defendants facing trials in the state.

Dipeolu said that the act had encouraged the perversion of justice as many defendants jumped bail and evaded arrests.

This, the Chief Judge stated, made her establish a bondsman scheme in 2021, saying that the scheme had assisted the speedy course of justice and helped in decongesting custodial centres.

According to her, about 2800 persons standing trial have so far regained their freedom since 2021, when the scheme was put in place.

ADVERTISEMENT

She added that no fewer than 500 inmates had been set free under the jail delivery exercise under her watch.

The chief judge who spoke on Thursday at the maiden edition of the Bondsmen Stakeholders Forum in Kobape, Abeokuta, explained that one of the cardinal programmes of her administration that is central to accessing justice is prison decongestion but the corruption-ridden informal way of getting bail bonds was an obstacle.

The inability to secure bail had led defendants into “jumping bail and evading arrests through the use of touts and fraudsters who present fake documents to deceive the courts to secure the bail of defendants,” she said.