15 Inmates Set Free From Katsina Custodial Centre

No fewer than fifteen inmates have been released from the Malumfashi Satellite Custodial Centre in Katsina.

The Controller General of the Nigerian Correctional Service, Haliru Nababa, who made the announcement, said the release was facilitated by the Interior Minister Dr Olabinmi Tunji-Ojo.

Osun Defender recalls that the immediate-past Minister, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, had created an office to raise funds through the private sector, so as to secure the release of inmates whose continuous stay in custodial facilities is their inability to pay the option of fines stipulated in their respective cases.

The initiative is part of the ideas of the Aregbesola’s years in arresting the congested nature of the Correctional Centres across the country.

Apart from the payment of fines, other initiatives introduced were the establishment and building of more custodial facilities across the country, seeking the partnership of state governments to sign the death warrants of convicted inmates, establishment of more courts to speedily try most inmates who are awaiting trial and are mostly state offenders, among others.

The release of the inmates at the Katsina Custodial Facility is in line with the continuation of the policy framework of the former Minister.

Nababa, represented by the Controller of Corrections, Katsina Command, Mr Abdulmumin-Haruna, said the inmates were those on minor offences.

“I commend the minister for this laudable initiative aimed at putting smiles on the faces of freed inmates.

“This is the first of its kind in the country and will go a long way in reducing overcrowding in custodial centres.”

Nababa urged inmates who did not benefit from the gesture not to view their confinement as the end of their lives.

The highlight of the event was the presentation of N10,000 each to the freed inmates to ease transportation to their respective homes.

In their comments, the released detainees expressed gratitude to the Federal Government and centre officials, promising not to repeat the crimes they had committed.