No fewer than 450 inmates of Kaduna, Zaria and Kafanchan prisons were on Monday freed after their fines were paid by the federal and the Kaduna State governments.
The inmates were sentenced to various jail terms with option of fine but were unable to pay the sums.
Abubakar Malami, the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, stated that the payment of the fines was part of government’s efforts to decongest prisons across the country.
Malami added that prison congestion negatively affected the justice delivery system which led to the setting up of the Prison Reform and Decongestion Committee, to review and pay the fines of inmates convicted for minor offences.
He said: “Regrettably, it is no longer news that our prisons are congested with the majority of them operating beyond their capacity.
“With the congestion comes a number of human rights and socio-economic development issues affecting not just the inmates but their families, prison officials, the justice system and society at large.”
The minister said that priority prisons had been selected by the committee, having considered key factors such as level of congestion, number of inmates with minor offence and inmates awaiting trial.
He expressed optimism that the measures, though short term, would provide some immediate relief to the prisons while awaiting implementation of long term measures such as the national centralised database management system.
The Chairman of the Prison Reform and Decongestion Committee, Justice Ishaq Bello, said that for all condemned prisoners, the committee would write to their various state governors on the need to act on their cases within two weeks.
Bello, who is the Chief Judge, FCT High Court, said that what was expected of the governors was to commute the death sentence of their citizens to life imprisonment, pardon them or sign the warrant for their execution.
The FCT chief judge further said that the committee was set up not only to decongest prisons across the country but to also evolve measures that would lead to enacting policies to enhance efficiency in the prison service.
Earlier, the minister, along with members of the committee, paid a courtesy visit on Governor Nasir El Rufai and the Emir of Zazzau, Alhaji Shehu Idris.
They both pledged to assist the committee in any way possible to ensure that it achieved the mandate for which it was set up.
El Rufai, however, expressed concern that three quarters of inmates were awaiting trial, thereby making the justice system unjust.
Idris on his part, called for the setting up of a prison parole department where inmates could acquire skills that would sustain them when released.
Similarly, 730 inmates were in December 2017 released from Kano Prison while 126 were released from Kuje, Suleija and Keffi prisons.
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