FG Plan Mass Prisoners’ Release, Writes Governors

The Federal government has written to governors requesting to decongest jails around the country.

The Federal Government has written to the Nigerian Governors Forum to request a meeting in order to decongest jails around the country.

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Newsonline reports that the Minister of Interior,  Rauf Aregbesola’s Media Adviser, Sola Fasure, disclosed this to PUNCH on Tuesday.

In exactly one month, Aregbesola stated he would meet with state governors to agree on the mass release of at least 30 percent of convicts from correctional facilities across the country.

The minister said that the interface was necessary as more than 90 percent of the inmates were being held for contravening various state laws, noting that over 70 percent of the 75,635 inmates at present were awaiting trial.

He said that the federal offenders in the system were far fewer than 10 percent, adding that the bulk of people in custody were those who had run afoul of state laws.

Aregbesola said that they were therefore being kept under the legal jurisdiction of their respective states.

The minister added that the decongestion of the 253 custodial centers nationwide was necessary as some of the inmates have no reason to remain in custody.

However, speaking on the action taken by the minister, Fasure said, “The minister has written to the Governors Forum, but he has not met with them because they will have to communicate with him and give him a date.

“He wrote to them with the request that he wants to meet with them, but he is yet to get a response. In other words, the meeting has not been held.”

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