Governor Abdullahi Sule, Thursday, pardoned 14 inmates selected from across the six correctional centres in Nasarawa state.
In his visit to Lafia correctional centre on Thursday, Sule said the exercise was carried out after due consultation with the state Advisory Council on prerogative of mercy, with a view to ensuring due compliance with the law and to avoid negative impacts.
The governor urged those getting the pardon to be of good character and to show good example so that government would be motivated to free more inmates in the future.
He particularly appealed to them to work with the security agencies by sharing vital information that would be positive to the society.
Sule explained that his administration has provided additional security measures at all the correctional facilities in the state, not so much as to prevent jailbreak but to protect the facilities from intruders.
He said his administration will provide necessary facilities at the Awe correctional centre, as a way to decongest the centres. He then announced a personal donation of N3m and presented 100 bags of rice as palliative to the inmates.
He equally promised to provide a utility vehicle to the Lafia correctional centre.
Speaking, Nasarawa state Controller of Correctional Service, Mr. Ibrahim Yunusa Adda, said the 14 inmates are being granted a reprieve because of the governor’s kindness, his love for humanity, and the belief that democracy is not only for those outside the walls of the centres.
While appreciating governor Sule for all the interventions provided by his administration across all the six correctional centres in the state, Mr. Adda said that the correctional centre in Nasarawa state, which also serves the FCT, presently has 1, 922 inmates, out of which over 1, 300 are on awaiting trial.
He decried the congestion across the six facilities in the state, adding that so far, and in collaboration with the National Open University (NOUN), 158 inmates are pursuing their first degree, with 14 masters students, while several others are preparing to write NECO, WAEC or JAMB.
