Ini Billie, Uyo
The Akwa Ibom State government has paid fines for six indigent citizens that were convicted of minor offences.
The six inmates, who were held in the custodial centres spread across the six senatorial districts, were initially given N60,000 options of fines, but they could not pay, hence their being remanded in the correctional centres for more than one year.
The Public Relations Officer of the State Corrections Service, DSC Ogbajie Ogbajie, said in a statement he sent to journalists in Uyo on Sunday that the Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Development, Dr. Ini Adiakpan paid the bail bond for the convicts.
According to Ogbajie, the commissioner has fulfilled the promise she made when she visited the correctional centres in the state a few weeks ago.
He noted that those who qualified for the gesture were inmates who committed minor and bailable offences but did not have money to meet the options of a fine offered them.
He stated that while giving out the money, Adiakpan advised the beneficiaries to stay away from activities that would take them back to the custodial centres.
“Out of love for human development and rehabilitation, the Hon. Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Welfare, Dr. Ini Adiakpan has facilitated the release from custody some indigent inmates convicted of minor offences and were remanded in different custodial centres in the state.
“The act was in fulfillment of the promise she made during her visit to the Correctional Centres in the state recently,” he stated.
In an interview, the discharged inmates thanked the commissioner for setting them free from prison by paying their fines.
They explained that they had to serve their jail terms since their families could not afford to pay their fines, and remorsefully regretted indulging in the criminal activities for which they were jailed.
They promised to be law-abiding citizens, and of good behavior, and cautioned young persons to shun criminal lifestyle and be productive to themselves and to the society.
Two of the ex-inmates, Aniekan Samuel and Akaninyene Sampson said they stole clothes, which led to the N60,000 fine option each ordered by the court, but they were unable to pay.