The Wife of Bauchi State Governor, Hajia Aisha Mohammed Abubakar, has secured the release of 52 prison inmates with minor offenses in Bauchi State.
While paying fines and compensation for the prison inmates in Bauchi on Monday, Hajia Abubakar, who is also the founder of Briliant Girl Child Initiative, said that the reform programme was born out of her passion to bring succour to prison inmates.
She said, “We are giving the released inmates N5,000 transport fare and we will also sponsor them on vocational training so that they can be self-reliance and desist from their old ways of life.
Hajia Abubakar, flanked by the wife of Kigi State Governor, Hajia Hafsat Yahaya Bello, and wife of Chief of Air Staff, Hajia Hanatu Zadik Abubakar, said that only one woman was among the released inmates.
Her words: “We wish to secure the release of more women because as a woman, I am passionate about the plight of women but unfortunately the offenses of the women prison inmates are above what we can do.
“We settled fines and compensation of the inmates in various prisons in Zaki, Tafawa Balewa, Narbodo, Alkaleri, Ningi, Misau, Katagum, and Jama’are and Bauchi prison, respectively.
“In 2016, we secured the release of 42 inmates which we trained on vocation skills but unfortunately only 39 graduated while two went back to their old ways. Only one neglected the training.
“Also in July 2017, we equally went round to visit the trained ex-convicts in their various places of work. During such visits we donated N20,000 to the graduands in to motivate them.”
The governor’s wife also donated items worth thousands of naira to the prison inmates. Items donated include, blanket, mats, soap, body oil and bathroom slippers.
She however enjoined parents to accept and support the released inmates in their endeavour of becoming a better and reform citizens.
In his address, Controller of Prisons, Bauchi State Command, CP Suleiman T Suleiman, said that the governor’s wife would also sponsor the inmates for a vocational training with provision of vocational tools to enable them become self-reliant in their various communities.
He said that one of the inmates who is in critical health condition was among those that benefited from the gesture. “I want to commend Her Excellency for graciously approving to pay for the release of Adamu Kolo, one of the inmates on compassionate ground. The moment I requested Her Excellency to look into the plight of the inmate who has been ill, she obliged and paid the sum of N120,000 for his fines and compassion.
“The unique gesture of Her Excellency is the second of its kind in the series of her laudable interventions to the well being of prison inmates in Bauchi State. She had in February 2016 released 42 inmates by paying for their fines and compensation. She thereafter sponsored them for a vocational training at the Federal Ministry of Labour and Productivity and also provided them with vocational tools after their graduation.
He thereby called on other individuals, philanthropists, NGOs and corporate organizations to emulate the governor’s wife by assisting prison inmates with skills acquisition materials and other basic support.
The Former Commissioner for Justice in Bauchi State, Yakubu Umar, who expressed worry over youth involvement in crime, attributed it to failed family value.
He said, “if you look at these inmate, they are all youth who are below 30 years, which means something is wrong with our family values and norms. It is a sign that our family value in Nigeria is failing woefully.
Umar urged parents and guardians to wake up to their duty of inculcating good morals and training in their children and wards, saying, “if we fail to train our children, we are gradually losing our future leaders.”
Also, the Permanent Secrtary of the Ministry of Justice, Haruna Mohammed, said that the governor’s wife’s gesture of securing the release of prisoners is in line with the ongoing decongesting prisons in Nigeria.
One of the released inmates, Zainab Musa, who lost her husband, while in prison, thanked the governor’s wife for the gesture of releasing her to reunite with her family.
