THE Federal Government of Nigeria has reportedly flagged off the payment of a N585 million fine for releasing 4,068 inmates nationwide.
The Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, flagged the initiative off at Kuje prison in Abuja on Saturday, November 17.
He said, “It’s with great pleasure that I stand with you today to flag off the release of 4,068 inmates sentenced to various terms of imprisonment with the option of fine and compensation in custodial status nationwide. This is in a bid to decongest custodial centres as well as make ready proper reformation and rehabilitation of offenders to take place.
“Most of the inmates are indigents who cannot afford to pay their fine languishing in custody. The total fund of N585 million was raised by cooperate bodies as Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) for this purpose.”
Tunji-Ojo reiterated that the initiative will only benefit inmates, carrying fines below N1 million, as he had earlier mentioned.
He said, “Hence, all inmates in custodial centres who have fines or compensation not exceeding 1 million are qualified and will benefit from this gesture. In addition, we are also providing each of them a stipend to enable them to stand in their community.”
In an interview with Arise TV on October 19, Tunji-Ojo said the federal government plans to pay N500 million as a bail fine for 4,000 inmates in custodial facilities whose bail term does not exceed N1 million.
He even gave the assurance then that the fine would be cleared and the inmates would be released in the next four weeks.
Flagging off the initiative of Saturday, he said it will not only decongest the correctional centres but will also mitigate against overdue detention of inmates due to lack of bail funds.
“As of yesterday, November 17 2023, there were about 8804 inmates in 253 custodial facilities nationwide with a total installed capacity of less than 50,000. It shows that our custodial centres are overcrowded, necessitating this initiative we are flagging off today,” he disclosed.
The Minister also reiterated that the government is not funding the programme but private sector players and philanthropists through a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiative.