Kogi state governor, Yahaya Bello, has granted state pardon to 31 inmates and commuted sentences of 13 others in custodial centres in the state and across the country.
Bello, who pronounced the pardon on Tuesday in his address to mark the Independence Day celebration, said the gesture was in exercise of the Prerogative Mercy conferred on him pursuant to Section 212 of the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria (as amended).
He said the Kogi State Advisory Council on Prerogative of Mercy Law, 1995, had visited several Custodial Centres in some states of the federation where condemned convicts and other categories of convicts are being kept, adding that the pardon was sequel to the council’s recommendations after careful scrutiny.
Those granted pardon and discharged within the state include: Shaibu Zakari, James Sheidu, Muhammed Yahaya, Sunday Adeyemi, Ugbede John, Ojonugwa Mathew, Abdulmumuni Yakubu, Muhammed Haruna, Daniel Ochonu and one Abdulrahman who have been held in Okene, Ankpa, Kotonkarfe and Idah custodial centres.
In the same vein, one Haruna Usman who was on death row in Koton Karfe Custodial Centre and awaiting the governor’s consent had his sentence commuted to life imprisonment while the sentence of Kashim Abdullahi who was serving a 15-year jail term in Idah custodial centre was reduced to 10 years.
The governor also granted pardon and commutes to life imprisonment, others who are kept in various custodial centres in Kaduna, Jos, Kano, Abeokuta, Suleja, Minna, Kuje, Gumel, Katsina and Enugu.
He called on the individual communities of the beneficiaries of the amnesty to tolerate them and give them every necessary form of assistance to enable them settle down and move on with their normal lives.
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