The Nasarawa State Governor, Abdullahi Sule has pardoned 36 inmates serving jail terms in the state.
The governor gave the pardon on Wednesday, June 30 during a visit to the Lafia Correctional Centre. Governor Sule while advising the inmates to shun all forms of crime, said the gesture was in fulfillment of his constitutional obligation.
He said the inmates were released not because they are innocent, but the government believed that they must have learnt their lessons for the time they stayed in jail.
“Each of you must become a preacher from here, so that you would be assimilated fully into the society so as to contribute to the peace, security and development of the society,” the governor added.
The Governor also commended the effort of the management of Correctional Facilities for their numerous programmes aimed at rehabilitating the inmates to make them better persons.
Responding to the request by Mr Aliyu Yahuza, Nasarawa State Comptroller of Nigeria Correctional Service, the governor promised to provide sewing machines, welding machines among others to equip the entrepreneurship centres in the facilities.
On his own part, the Commissioner for Justice and Attorney-General of the state, Abdulkarim Kana, , said this is the fourth time the governor was extending the gesture to inmates in the last two years.
Kana noted that the ministry of Justice is currently prosecuting over 1, 000 cases at various courts across the 13 Local Government Areas of the state in order to ensure speedy administration of justice.
He added that the ministry has commenced the implementation of the amendment Criminal Justice Law based on the approval by the governor to ensure speedy administration of justice.
According to him, the new law provides that the ministry and inmates who has spent long time awaiting trials as well as their counsels would agree on alternative charges so as to get conviction for them.
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