COVID-19: President Buhari Frees 2,600 Inmates

President Muhammadu Buhari’s led administration has set free no fewer than 2,600 prisoners two weeks after the President agrees to decongest Correctional centres due to the outbreak of Coronavirus pandemic in the country.

According to Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola, who spoke in a press conference on Thursday in the capital territory of Nigeria, Abuja, those eligible for the amnesty only include inmates that are 60 years and above; those suffering from ill-health likely to result in death; convicts serving three years and above and have less than six months to serve; inmates with mental issues; and inmates with an option of fine not exceeding N50,000.

Meanwhile, 70 out of the prisoners will on Thursday (today) be let loose from the Kuje maximum custodial centre, the minister confirmed.

He added: “In a symbolic gesture of the amnesty given to the 2,600 inmates across Nigeria, 41 Federal inmates and 29 FCT inmates making a total of 70 inmates who met the above criteria will be released today from the Kuje Custodial Centre in Abuja. This amnesty will not apply to inmates sentenced for violent extreme offences such as terrorism, kidnapping, armed banditry, rape, human trafficking, culpable homicide and so on.

“The Governors of the 36 states under whose jurisdiction most of the inmates were incarcerated will complete the exercise in line with the federal principle,” he said.

In other news, President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the employment of one thousand people each from the 774 Local Government Areas in the country to aide in the battle against Coronavirus pandemic.