Kano State Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, has granted state pardon to 500 prisoners in the state, in the spirit of Eid el-Kabir.
Those who got the official reprieve were 250 prisoners from Kurmawa Central Prison, 150 from Goron Dutse and 100 from satellite prisons across the state.
Seven condemned prisoners had their sentences commuted to life imprisonment while the rest were released because the state government paid their respective fines and compensations even as some were freed on grounds of age and illness.
Speaking during a visit to Kurmawa Prison, Governor Ganduje explained that “the gesture was also in line with the Federal government’s directive on judicious decongestion of prisons across the country”.
“The Federal Government wants a crime free Nigeria and in trying to achieve this, justice must be tampered with mercy, on the promise that those who are pardoned would not relapse to crime”, the governor stated.
He disclosed each of the released prisoners would be given N5, 000 instantly to go back home, while 100 of them would be selected for inclusion in the state government’s economic empowerment programme.
Governor Ganduje advised the pardoned prisoners to be of good behavior and useful members of the society by engaging in positive social and economic ventures.
Also speaking the Minister of Interior, A. B. Dambazau, represented by Alhaji Ado Abdullahi Jafaru, described the occasion as unprecedented, saying “this is the first time in Nigeria that a state government will pardon of 500 inmates in the same state at the same time”.
The Minister said the Federal Government deeply appreciated the gesture, advising those who benefited from the amnesty not to abuse the privilege by reverting to crime.
On his part, the State Controller, Nigerian Prison Service, Aliyu Achor who expressed appreciation to the state government for its concern for the welfare of prisoners, called for closer rapport with the state Council on Prerogative of Mercy, to keep things working.
