I want to thank the wife of our dear governor for securing my release. I was convicted for stealing an electricity generating set
The First Lady of Ebonyi State, Chief Mrs. Uzoamaka Nwifuru, has paid fines on behalf of 41 inmates whose convictions had the option of bail in Abakaliki Correctional Centre with an undisclosed amount of money.
The Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice Ebonyi State, Barrister Ben Odoh, who disclosed this Wednesday in Abakaliki, said the governor’s wife paid the fines on a visit to the Custodial Centre earlier in the week.
Odoh said that 31 out of the 41 inmates were females facing murder charges in the correctional center.
“During the visit, Her Excellency, the wife of Ebonyi State governor, Chief Mrs Mary-Maudlin Nwifuru paid fines on behalf of 41 inmates whose convictions had the option of fine,” he said.
The inmates, which included a 16-year-old teenager, Ogobuchi Ikebe, who was convicted of stealing a phone Bluetooth device, expressed profound gratitude to the wife of the governor for assisting them in leaving the custodial center alive.
Speaking on the state of the custodial center, Odoh disclosed that the Abakaliki Custodial Centre currently houses 1,265 inmates, among whom were the 31 female inmates facing capital offenses.
Addressing the freed inmates, Mrs Nwifuru urged them to live a changed life to ensure they do not go back to the custodial facility, promising that “We will continue to give hope to the inmates.”
Responding to the threat of Mrs. Nwifuru, one of the freed inmates, Nwafor Emmanuel, told journalists that the condition of inmates in prison is very pathetic.
“I witnessed not less than five deaths in the prison and I will not do anything that will take me back to the prison.
“I want to thank the wife of our dear governor for securing my release. I was convicted for stealing an electricity generating set.”