Twenty-nine inmates of the Sokoto Correctional Centre have regained their freedom under the state committee on prerogative of mercy.
In addition two dismissed civil servants have their penalties converted to retirement,
Commissioner for Justice and Attorney General in the state, Barrister Suleman Usman, SAN, who said the affected ex-civil servants included Bawa Sahabi Tambuwal and Murtala Mani Salihu.
Speaking at the centre, he said that the state government also gave the sum of N50,000 cash assistance to each of the pardoned inmates to enable them to set up some useful ventures as they start a new life out of prison.
The gesture, he added, was to de-congest the prison against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic
”The pardon takes cognisance of the executive powers vested on the governor to offer mercy to inmates by the 1999 constitution as amended,” he stated.
“The exercise is carried out on a routine basis to deserving inmates in order to offer mercy to them.”
He advised the freed prisoners to shun vices and engage in viable ventures that would uplift their living standards.
The Deputy Controller in charge of the Correctional Centre, Idris Muhammad lauded the state government’s initiative.
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