Christmas: Adelami celebrates with inmates, plans rehab centre

The board chairman of the Prison Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN), Dr Olayide Adelami, celebrated Christmas with inmates on Wednesday at Owo Correctional Facility and charged them to spend time reflecting on God’s words and acknowledging Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.

Referencing the book of Isaiah chapter 9 verse 6, Adelami, who is the current deputy governor of Ondo State, urged the inmates to accept Jesus Christ as their lord and personal saviour. He added that the fellowship was established to give hope and to make life easy for newly released inmates after incarceration.

He also promised to establish a rehabilitation centre where newly released inmates would be trained and equipped with basic skills before being released to the larger society.

He said, “Jesus was born to shoulder the responsibilities of everyone in the world, including you. So, no matter how heavy you think your burden is, he will give you absolute peace because he is the ‘Prince of Peace’.

“When you accept Him as your personal Lord and Saviour, He washes away your sins and gives you a new lease of life.

“Today, being the day He was born, is a day to share the love of God, kindness, and mercy, which is why I am here to celebrate with you, and to share His good news with you and let you know that Jesus truly cares about you.”

“As a fellowship, the PFN goes to custodial facilities to preach the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, and also take care of some of the needs of inmates to make their lives behind bars bearable

“We have proposed an idea where issues can be resolved before litigation, to reduce the number of cases going to the courts and also decongest correctional facilities due to a large number of inmates awaiting trial. This is being practised in Lagos state as a pilot scheme.”