The Minister of Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Senator Bala Mohammed, Thursday approved the release of 29 convicted inmates from the Kuje and Suleja prisons.
Speaking at Kuje Prison in Abuja, the minister, who was represented by the General Counsel and Legal Secretary, Ima Okpongote, said the programme which was his personal project was meant to free the inmates who had the option of fine.
Mohammed added that 10 inmates were freed at Kuje, while 19 were freed at Suleja prisons, adding that the FCT Administration (FCTA) would ensure that the programmes would be factored into the FCT social welfare scheme.
He revealed that accelerated trials of some inmates who their case had been abandoned in the past had been set up in order to free up the prisons.
Though, the freed inmates were unable to go home yesterday because the FCT authorities were unable to pay their fines due to the ongoing strike by the judicial workers.
Mohammed however warned that: “A repetition of the same act would make them face the full wrath of the law."
In order to ensure their easy integration into the society, the minister presented a start-up capital to the freed inmates.
Earlier, the representative of Controller General of Prisons, Kasali Yusuf, said the event was borne out of the fact that the prison authorities had been facing challenges in granting amnesty to inmates in FCT as it is done in other states of the federation.
He acknowledged the effort of the minister in working closely with the general counsel to address the issue of delay in justice.
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