COVID-19: Nigerian govt releases 3,751 inmates

The Nigerian Correctional Service said Thursday said at least 3,751 inmates of correctional facilities had been released in compliance with the presidential directive on the decongestion of such facilities in the country.

The spokesman of the NCoS, Austin Njoku, who disclosed this in a statement in Abuja, said the released inmates included convicts and awaiting trial persons who met the criteria set by the Presidential Advisory Committee on Prerogative of Mercy.

President Muhammadu Buhari had in April ordered the release of inmates of correctional facilities across Nigeria in a bid to check the spread of COVID-19 in the country.

72 inmates of the Kuje custodial facility, Abuja, were released when the exercise was flagged off by the Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola, last month.

Njoku, who disclosed that 2, 600 inmates were initially listed for pardon, added that some state chief judges released some awaiting trial inmates during the jail delivery processes.

This, according to him, brought the number of inmates released from the correctional facilities to 3,751.

Njoku said: “The NCoS wishes to state that the process is ongoing, as other measures are in place to ensure continuity and the final figures will be made public at the end of the exercise.

“A breakdown of the release shows that 2,740 convicts and 1,011 awaiting trial inmates have so far benefited from the exercise.”