Tony Osauzo, Benin
In a bid to beat the October 30 deadline issued to fleeing inmates of Benin and Oko Correctional Centres by Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State, to voluntarily return, 24 of the inmates from the Oko medium correctional centre were reportedly returned last weekend by their parents, lawyers and relations.
The governor had‎ issued the October 30 deadline after hoodlums under the guise of EndSARS protest broke into the two centres and freed over1,181 inmates.
According to a source, those who were returned were inmates who had a few months of their‎ jail terms left.
‎”We are expecting that more will return back. Those we have received so far are inmates who have few months of their jail terms to serve while the hardened and condemned inmates are yet to return. Majority of those out there are awaiting trials”, the source said.
Recall that after the jailbreak incidents,  Governor Obaseki, accompanied by other top government officials, had paid an assessment visit to the Correctional Centres, where he called on the fleeing inmates to return voluntarily within two days failing which they would face severe consequences when re-arrested.
Some of the inmates responded and returned, promptting the governor to further extend the ultimatum by additional week.
“The extension of the ultimatum is as a result of the positive response from the prisoners, as a good number of them have since returned to the two correctional facilities. The new window is to allow more prisoners to return to the centres willingly”, Mr. Crusoe Osagie, Special Adviser to Obaseki on Media and Communication Strategy, had explained in a statement.