John Adams, Minna
The governor of Niger State, Alhaji Abubakar Sani Bello has granted pardon to 46 inmates spread across various correctional centres in the state.
A statement in Minna on Sunday by the Attorney General and Commissioner of Justice, Niger State, Barrister Nasara Dan-Mallam, said the release of the inmates was informed by the presidential directives to state governors consider granting pardon to deserving inmates with a view to decongesting the prisons.
Barrister Dan-Mallam who is also the Chairman of the State Advisory Council on Prerogative of Mercy, disclosed that the decision of the government was part of measures to contain the spread of the Coronavirus pandemic due to over crowding in the correctional centers.
The attorney general further disclosed that those pardoned were considered for release based on the recommendation of the State Advisory Council on Prerogative of Mercy with due consideration to old age, ill health, and those with less than six months to the end of their service.
He, therefore, appealed to the released inmates to make use of their freedom by engaging in useful ventures and shun any act that could lead them to crime.
He enjoined those released to “turn a new leaf” and become productive to the society, adding that “government wants you to be good citizens and contribute your quota to the socio-economic and political development of Niger State in particular and Nigeria as a whole”.
It could be recalled that congestion in correctional centers across the state remained a source of concern to the government before now with a number of fruitless efforts made in the past to decongest them.
For instance the old Minna Correctional Center built by the colonial master in 1966 with the capacity to accommodate 147 inmates today plays host to 493 inmates and out of these, 250 are on awaiting trial list while 243 have been convicted and serving various jail terms.
The situation is not peculiar to the old correctional center alone, the story at the new medium correctional center is more worrisome.
The prison which was commissioned in 2001 with 215 bed capacity now hosts1,335 inmates and out of these number, only 273 have been convicted, among them 18 condemned convicted criminals. The remaining 1,062 are awaiting trials.