By Dayo Adu

Stakeholders in the judicial sector have been charged to evolve mechanism that would ensure effective implementation of Community Service Sentencing Scheme so as to stamp out cases of absconding and repeated offenders.

The Chief Judge of Oyo State, Justice Iyabo Yerima gave the charge at a workshop organised by Justice Development and Peace Commission, Ibadan

Justice Yerima, who explained that the community Service Sentencing had assisted in decongesting the correctional facilities by allowing convicts to serve their punishment term in the community, suggested that convicts should be made to serve in their community of origin so as to make them remorseful.

Represented by Justice Laniran Akintola, the Chief Judge, advocated strict monitoring of convicts serving punishment under community service option, especially, politicians and those convicted of financial crimes to ensure penitence, and there should be no swap cases. 

On his part, a former Commissioner for Justice in Oyo State, Mr. Seun Abímbólá explained that the judiciary had self funded the scheme since 2017 when it began operations in the state, urging the government to commit more budgetary allocation to enable the scheme serve it purpose in the state.

Earlier in an address of welcome, Director, JDPC, Ibadan, Reverend Father, Jerome Ajakaiye, whiling noting that the scheme had committed over one thousand offenders of minor offences to community service, said it had reduced over stretching of correctional facilities, outbreak of public health, cost of imprisonment and stigmatization of ex-convicts.

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