...60-yr-old, 126 other convicts secure freedom in Abuja
A 60-year-old man, Musa Abdullahi, remanded in prison over allegation of theft has been released alongside 126 other convicts whose fines were paid.
Abdullahi, a resident of Rigacikun, Kaduna State, said his journey to Kuje prisons started when he was returning to his village after visiting his children in another village behind Abuja airport.
He said when he noticed he only had N100 left on him; he flagged down a vehicle and pleaded with the occupants to assist him to the main road where he hoped to get a vehicle back to his village.
“Few kilometres from where I boarded the vehicle, vigilante operatives flagged down our vehicle and before I knew what was happening, the driver and the other occupants of the vehicle jumped out and ran away.
“Not knowing what was happening, the vigilante arrested me and said I am a thief just like the occupants of the vehicle that ran away. They took me to the police station and I was subsequently charged to court on conspiracy and theft,” he narrated in Hausa language.
Justice Ishaq Bello who led the Stakeholders Committee on Prisons Reforms and Decongestion on a visit to Kuje prisons upon consultation with the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN), discharged and ordered the suspect’s release.
He said a review of his file revealed that no item of theft was found on him when he was arrested and added that the suspect was “a victim of circumstance.”
Of the 126 convicts that also got their freedom, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Muhammad Bello, paid the fine options for 114 which cut across inmates in Kuje, Suleja and Keffi prisons.
The Minister, who was represented by the FCT permanent secretary, Christian Chinyaka Oha, said the gesture by the FCT administration was part of efforts to de-congest the prisons and assist the freed inmates to reintegrate back into the society.
The office of the AGF also secured the release of 10 while Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre (PLAC) and one Hajiya Naja’atu from Kano paid the fine options of two convicts.