The Federal Government has pledged to secure the release of 368 inmates in Kano prisons as part of its ongoing prisons decongestion programme across the country.
Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami disclosed this on Tuesday in Kano when members of the National Stakeholders Committee on Prisons Decongestion paid a courtesy visit to Gov. Abdullahi Ganduje of Kano state.
Malami thanked the governor for leading the campaign on prisons decongestion, stating that Kano is the first state in the country to champion the course, by releasing several inmates.
He noted that the governor had pardoned 500 inmates during the President’s visit to Kano, and now additional 368 are set for release, with the state government paying their fines.
Earlier, chairman of the committee and the FCT Chief Judge also expressed his appreciation to the governor for making their work easy, with a plea to other state governors to emulate him.
He further urged all stakeholders to accord the issue of prison decongestion priority in order to carter for the downtrodden in the society.
Gov. Abdullahi Ganduje, expressed delight for selecting Kano to be among the first states that the committee visited in order to ensure that prisons are decongested in line with President Muhammadu Buhari’s directive.
He further stated that so far since the inception of his administration, his government had pardoned over 1500 inmates with minor crimes mostly jailed due to their inability to pay fines.
He urged the federal government to consider the possibility of handing over prisons to the states in order to manage them more efficiently. (NAN)
