Gov Sani Bello pardons 24 convicts, frees 80 inmates – Punch Newspapers

The Governor of Niger State, Alhaji Abubakar Sani Bello, has pardoned 24 convicts, some of whom had already been sentenced to death. He also paid N20m in fines for 80 other inmates to secure their release.

The state Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Nasara Danmallam, announced on Friday while transferring the responsibilities of the Ministry of Justice to its Permanent Secretary that the pardons had been granted.

“As a parting gift, Governor Abubakar Sani Bello has granted pardon to 24 inmates across the state under his powers of prerogative of mercy. Some of them have been on the death roll whose sentences have been commuted to a few years of prison term.

Six of the beneficiaries of the pardon were civil servants who had been convicted of fraud and related offenses and had been dismissed from their positions. Danmallam stated that six dismissed civil servants were reinstated as beneficiaries of the pardon. Those who had reached retirement age would be retired with full benefits. Danmallam also mentioned that 115 bills and legal instruments had been promulgated into law during the outgoing Governor’s eight-year administration.

According to him, “the Ministry also initiated Gender Issues Department mandated to handle spouse disagreements using alternative dispute resolution mechanism.

The Director of the Department, Maro Mohammed Mann, revealed that his office had received 1,500 cases in 2020. They had successfully resolved 1,400 of these cases and reunited the individuals involved with their families.