15th October, 2022
Olaide Ayinde
Governor Bala Mohammed of Bauchi state, on Friday, pardoned 153 inmates with minor offences, serving various jail terms at different correctional facilities in the state.
News Agency of Nigeria reports the governor as saying the action was carried out after due consultations with the state Council on the Prerogative of Mercy.
Muhammed told NAN that each of the 153 inmates would be given the sum of N50,000, totalling N7.6 million as capital, to help them start up small businesses in their various communities.
“We are providing each and every freed inmate with the sum of N50,000 to start a small business with a view to making them self-reliant.
“We believe that empowering the poor economically is one of the best ways to ensure peace, security and crime prevention.
“Similarly, the fines and penalties of the affected inmates have been fully settled to facilitate their immediate release from the various correctional services”, the governor was quoted to have said.
Mohammed further explained that the fines and penalties ranged from a minimum of N5,000 to a maximum of N30,000.
He added that the total amount of the fines and penalties of the inmates stood at N1.2 million which he said, was paid from his personal pocket.
“That is why it is easy for any public-spirited individual to pay because all their fines range from N5,000, N8,000, N10,000 and the highest being N30,000. This is very incredible.
“The men that I will be pardoning today, are of no use to their society if they are left languishing alongside hardened criminals.
“I will be pardoning them with the expectation that they would go back and be an asset to their communities and work to support their families, our beloved state and nation,” he said.