Benue State Governor, Rev Fr Hyacinth Alia on Sunday pardoned 12 prisoners serving various jail terms at the Correction Centres in the state.
Alia also converted the dismissal of a Benue State civil servant, Mr Dennis Yogbo to termination of appointment.
This was contained in a statement by the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Sir Tersoo Kula on Sunday in Makurdi.
Kula said the Governor took the decision based on the recommendation of the Benue State Advisory Council on the Prerogative of Mercy headed by the State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice and Public Order, Barr. Fidelis Mnyim.
According to him, Alia enjoyed the pardoned inmates to be of good behavior and urged them to make use of the skills acquired while in confinement to better their lot.
“Give your society the very best. And as for the gentleman whose dismissal has been converted to termination of appointment, don’t take any elements of life for granted; demonstrate your newness into your society,” the Governor said.
Alia said the act of mercy was granted based on his administration’s desire to offer the best to the people of Benue, even as he was worried that most of the inmates were young persons who ordinarily should not be anywhere near the prison.
“This should not be home for them. I was quite shocked to see the faces of many young people here, where there are a total of 525 inmates, including 25 females, one with a baby, while some came in with pregnancy,” he said.
Earlier in his remarks, the Benue State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice and Public Order, Barr. Fidelis Mnyim, told the governor that the 8-man committee headed by him did a thorough duty before recommending those that were granted pardon, in line with Section 212 of the 1999 Constitution for offences they committed against the state.
He explained further that the inmates granted pardon were drawn from Makurdi, Otukpo and Gboko correctional facilities.
Responding on behalf of the freed inmates, Barnabas Apav thanked Governor Alia for the gesture, pledging that henceforth, they would be of good behaviour.
Also responding, Dennis Yogbo, who was granted state pardon, said he had been in bondage for 28 years, until God sent governor Alia to come to his rescue.
