President Muhammad Buhari has granted presidential pardon for 2,600 inmates nationwide.
The Minister of Interior, Mr Rauf Aregbeshola, made this known while addressing a news conference on Thursday in Abuja.
According to Aregbeshola,out of the said number, 70 inmates will be released from Kuje maximum custodial centre
“After the release of the first face, the committee will continue to meet regularly to consider those who deserve the benefit.
ALSO READ: Buhari approves $150m to stem CONVID-19 impact
Also speaking, Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, said the UN advised Member States to reduce the number of inmates in custodial centres in view of social distancing attitude.
He described the launch of the 2020 presidential pardon as historic adding that the process of selecting beneficiaries started in 2018.
He warned the beneficiaries to desist from crimes urging the community to open their hands and receive the boundaries with stigmatisation.
He lamented that 70 per cent of inmates in Nigeria’s Correctional Centres were awaiting trial.
In his remarks. the Controller-General of NCoS, Mr Ja’afaru Ahmed, said that so far the service has not recorded any case of Covid-19.
He said that the exercise will go a long way in reducing the number of inmates in the service nationwide.
