Aregbesola grants amnesty to four condemned inmates

Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola yesterday granted amnesty to four inmates on the death row in three prisons in the South West.The Director of Public Prosecutions and Secretary to the State Advisory Council on Prerogative of Mercy, Mr. Pomade Adeniji announced the official pardon in a statement in Osogbo.

The statement said the governor’s gesture was in commemoration of the New Year celebrations.“Pursuant to the advice and recommendations of the State Advisory Council on Prerogative of Mercy, Governor Rauf Aregbesola, in exercise of his powers, has granted amnesty to the prison inmates,” the statement said.

It added that the beneficiaries were serving jail terms at federal prisons in Ilesha, Ibara and Abeokuta as well as the Maximum Security Prison, Kirikiri in Lagos.

The statement listed the inmates as Kolawole Adediji and Madelon Adediji.Ekanade Muyiwa and Adewole Olusoji, who were also on the death row had their sentences commuted from death to 20 years of imprisonment each.

“This is in commemoration of the New Year 2017 celebrations,” the statement said.The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the governor did a similar gesture last September by pardoning six inmates.The governor had granted the amnesty in commemoration of the country’s 56th independence anniversary.