Renew your hope in God, Islamic cleric tells inmates

An Islamic organisation in Osun state, Daaru-r-Rahmat Society of Nigeria, has urged inmates to renew their hope in line with the campaign mantra of president Bola Tinubu and be hopeful of their freedom.

The organisation who visited Ilesa Custodial Centre to donate food, clothes and preach for the inmates as part of activities marking their 15th anniversary, urged the inmates not to loose hope.

The Ameer of Darmat, Imam Muali Olawale, who urged the inmates to renew their faith and hope, advised them to take advantage of the centre to learn and be hopeful that tomorrow will be better.

“Don’t see this place as the last place. It is not over for you. Use this place to learn how to be of good conduct after your freedom. It is in your destiny that you will be kept here for a while. 

“Renew your hope and your faith. That is the campaign mantra of the present administration and Nigeria will be better for us all. Be steadfast and maintain your brotherhood. You will leave this place to become important after your freedom,” Olawale said.

The Imam of the inmates, who described the prison as the grave of the living, appealed to the people to be contented and be patience.

“Help us tell people in Nigeria to live with contentment. Help us appeal to the government not to abandon us here. They should not think we are the worst human being on earth. Some of us came here to discover that we have done wrong and we have repented.

“I’ve been here since 2008. I have finished at Open university now. Some of us are here because they could not afford a lawyer. Some of us are here because they stole yam due to hunger. Some could not afford to pay an option of fine while some have spent almost 20 years because they could not raise N500,000 to pay settlement,” the Imam said.

An inmate who claimed to have spent 13 years in detention, said he did not know that crime does not pay when he robbed an hostel and he was caught.

“We came to prison because of lack of contentment. My father warned me but I didn’t listen. I was the only person caught out of four of us that went to robb an hostel in Iree then. 

“If we are lucky to leave this place, we will be of good conduct because we now realise that returning to crime after leaving prison is either you are killed or you return to jail,” he said.