The Cross River State governor, Bassey Otu, has granted pardon and clemency to 45 inmates who had been cooling their feet at Afokang Correctional Centre Calabar.
The clemency was in line with Section 212 (1) (a) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 as (Amended) and was extended to 45 convicts with minor offences.
Otu’s action, is in the spirit of the new year, giving a second chance to the convicts to turn a new leaf and be re- absorbed into the society.
The governor’s pardon was contained in the approval given to the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr. Ededem Ani.
Findings from LEADERSHIP revealed that the inmates were convicted for various offences committed ranging from felony, stealing, breaking and entry, assault, threats to life, cultism, armed robbery, illegal entry, logging and unlawful possession, conspiracy, assault and threatening violence, and malicious damage, among a few others.
The governor stressed that the initiative was to decongest the prison and allow the affected inmates to turn a new leaf.
Speaking with a Calabar resident who claimed to be a relative of one of the freed inmates, Mr. Sylvester Akpan expressed joy that his brother’s name was among those granted pardon by the state governor.
Akpan appealed to the beneficiaries of the governor’s magnanimity to shun violence and be patient with everyone in society so as not to get into trouble again.
” These guys have to leave their old ways to co-exist with every one peacefully rather than always threatening, molesting and taking people’s property at will,” Akpan stated.
