Bello pardons 32 inmates, commutes 11 death sentences

As part of activities to mark Nigeria’s 59th independence anniversary, Kogi state Governor Yahaya Bello, in exercising his prerogative of mercy, has granted pardon  to 32  inmates who have less than one  year to regain their freedom in custodial centres across the state.

The governor also commuted 11 death sentences to life imprisonment in the spirit of the country’s independence.

Bello, who gave the order in Lokoja on Tuesday during a broadcast to mark the country’s 59th independence, said Kogi state Advisory Council on Prerogative of Mercy, acting in consonance with the provisions of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) and Kogi State Advisory Council on Prerogative of Mercy Law, 1995, visited several custodial centres in states of the federation where condemned convicts, and other category of convicts are being kept.

He added that a careful scrutiny of the applications of the convicts, supporting documents and testimonies given by the officials in charge of the various Custodial Centres indicated that some of the convicts deserved another chance in life, hence the recommendations made by the council.

In granting the pardon, the governor said: “I, Alhaji Yahaya Bello, the Executive Governor of Kogi state, under and by virtue of the powers conferred on me by section 212 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended) do hereby  this 1st day of October, 2019 render and pronounce in exercise of the said powers.

“That the under listed convicts serving sentences in Custodial centres located in Kogi State and who have less than one  year to be discharged are hereby granted pardon and should be released forthwith.

The governor also commuted death sentences of 11 convicts to life jail in various Custodial Centres across the country.

He, however, called on the individual communities of the beneficiaries of the amnesty to tolerate them, absolve them and to also give them another chance in life, saying; “It is human to err but to forgive is divine.”

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