Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom has inaugurated a State Advisory Council On Prerogative Of Mercy to enable him identify repented inmates for pardon so as to decongest prisons in the state.
Inaugurating the council in Government House, Makurdi, on Tuesday, Ortom said Section 212 of the 1999 Constitution as amended gives him the powers to grant pardon to any person convicted.
He noted that some people who may have committed offences want to turn a new leaf while some have been jailed even when they have not committed any crime, hence the need for mercy.
Ortom stated that he wept like a child the last time he visited the prison saying “Most times we go to prison and we see people like us living like animals. The last time I was there, I wept like a child.
“I saw young men and women who could have been my children and elderly men and women who could have been my parents and I wondered why those who could have been adding value to the society and contributing to the development of the nation, would be languishing in jail.”
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Ortom who promised to reach out to prisoners in the state to celebrate the 2019 Christmas advised people to visit prisoners and show them some love saying it is biblical.
He directed council members to go round the prisons and identify inmates that have repented and can be pardoned so they can come back and lead normal lives.
Ortom, who freed about 500 inmates in 2015 when he assumed office said he was very sure that those who had such opportunities are doing well presently.
He enjoined members of the council not to betray the confidence reposed in them but to remain steadfast and shun any act of corruption even as he attested to the sterling reputation of those on the committee.
“For criminals in Benue, the time is over and we are poised to not only reduce crime but to the eradicate criminality in the state.
“Anyone you recommend to me, that are qualified, I will free them,” to decongest the prison and create space for so many miscreants who are supposed to be there but are roaming the streets and causing more harm.”
Chairman of the committee, who is the Commissioner of Justice and Attorney General of Benue State, Michael Gusa thanked the Governor for the assignment and promised that they will get to work immediately.
Gusa said it takes a heart that is compassionate about fellow human beings like that of Ortom to inaugurate a committee to identify inmates for pardon.
He praised the Governor for freeing about 500 inmates when he came in 2015 saying many lives have been changed since then.
He lamented that many Benue indegenes are scattered in many prisons in the country; Imo, Jalingo, Kaduna Jos, among others saying “we will tour these places and make recommendations.”
