No fewer than 104 inmates have been freed by the Niger State Governor, Abubakar Sani Bello.
While the governor pardoned 24 convicts, some of whom had already been sentenced to death, the sum of N20m fines was paid to secure the release of 80 other inmates.
Six of the beneficiaries of the pardon were civil servants who had been convicted of fraud and related offenses and had been dismissed from their positions.
This was announced by the state Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Nasara Danmallam, on Friday while transferring the responsibilities of the Ministry of Justice to its Permanent Secretary that the pardons had been granted.
He said, “As a parting gift, Governor Abubakar Sani Bello has granted pardon to 24 inmates across the state under his powers of prerogative of mercy. Some of them have been on the death roll whose sentences have been commuted to a few years of prison term.
He further disclosed that about 115 bills and legal instruments had been promulgated into law during the outgoing Governor’s eight-year administration.
