Some lawyers in Abuja have called on the Federal Government to expedite effort in the introduction of parole into the Nigerian criminal justice system to ease prison congestion in the country.

They said there was urgent need to integrate the parole system into the country’s criminal justice system.

Parole is the early release of a prisoner, conditioned on good behaviour and regular reporting to the authorities for a set period of time or a way of letting approved prisoners serves part of their sentence in the community once the board decides they are not an unacceptable risk to the safety of the community.

Prisoners on parole are usually supervised and must comply with certain conditions in order to remain in the community.”

The Lawyers said the government should expedite action in establishing parole boards to facilitate the implementation of the system, saying if a parole system is introduced into Nigeria, it will reduce prison congestion and help those who are unjustly punished.

According to them, though prisoners are not entitled to parole rather, parole boards consider a number of factors when deciding whether to grant parole, saying the parole boards will be put in place to visit the prisons from time to time, monitor the inmates and makes a decision whether an offender may be released on parole.

The board then take into due cognisance the personal characteristics of inmates such as age, mental stability, marital status and previous criminal record, the nature or severity of the offence committed.’’

Prisons are congested as people are made to spend months and years in incarceration even without being pronounced guilty by a court of competent jurisdiction.