Advisory Council on Prerogative of Mercy to recommend inmates for State Pardon

Advisory Council on Prerogative of Mercy to recommend inmates for State Pardon

Partners Law Firm for Pro Bono Services

By Edidiong Udobia

The Akwa Ibom State Advisory Council on Prerogative of Mercy, ACPM, has embarked on a tour of select custodial centers of the Nigerian Correctional Service.

According to the chairman of ACPM, Sir Adasi Ubulom, the council, which began a tour of correctional centres last Tuesday with a visit to Port Harcourt Custodial Centre, Rivers State, where it met inmates who are awaiting trial, will also recommend inmates for state pardon.

“The Advisory Council has the constitutional responsibility to advise the governor on those inmates who have shown signs of remorsefulness and repentance after serving many years of their sentence, have changed their ways and turn away from crime to become good citizens of the society”, he said.

Sir. Ubulom revealed that there are about 420 Akwa Ibom indigenes in Port Harcourt Custodial Centre who are awaiting trial, lamenting that the number is indicative of the rising rate of crime among young people.

“In Port Harcourt Custodial Centre where we went, many Akwa Ibom indigenes who have been convicted are there, especially those on death row. Our job is to go and see if they have changed their character to suit that which is expected of good and law-abiding citizens of the society. So at the end, we look into the records and see those we can recommend to His Excellency for mercy.

“Also, we have brought in some innovations. We are in partnership with a law firm that has volunteered to offer pro bono services to some of the inmates who are awaiting trial and may not have the wherewithal to take up their cases. Some of them on awaiting trial have have been there for many years. Some have even stayed longer than the years they would have stayed if they were convicted.

“So we are partnering with the law firm to see how they can provide pro bono services to those indigent inmates. In Port Harcourt, those who are from Akwa Ibom state awaiting trial are about 420. And if you look at their ages, they between 20 to 40. I didn’t see anybody in his 50 there”, he added.

Lamenting that the number of young people in the correctional centre is alarming, Sir Obolum further called on the youth to make deliberate effort to shun crime as it is capable of destroying their future, adding that there should be an aggressive enlightenment campaign against crime.

Addressing the inmates in Ikot Abasi Custodial Centre during the Council’s visit on Thursday, Mr. Ubulom advised the inmates to ensure that they are genuinely repentant from their old ways which brought them to the facility in order to ensure that the efforts of the Council are not wasted.

He further urged them to use their experiences to preach against crime to their friends and relatives with a further charge on those who will be favoured to be granted pardon to become change ambassadors once they are back in the society.

In addition, the council is partnering with a law firm, Law Partners and Associates, to provide legal services for indigent inmates of Akwa Ibom state origin held in different custodial centres within and outside the state.

In an interview with newsmen, Barr. Sunday Uko of Law Partners and Associates, noted that as a way of giving back to the society, the Law firm approached the Advisory Council on Prerogative of Mercy to seek partnership by offering pro bono services to inmates of Akwa Ibom origin.

“After the Council had approved the collaboration, we started work. Today, we were at the Port Harcourt Custodial Centre and we spoke to several inmates who are awaiting trial. Most of them were arrested since 2014 and 2015 without any legal representation so after the remand proceedings, they were dumped in the facility”.

He disclosed that the aim of the partnership is to provide the needed legal representation for inmates who have stayed in the centres without trial in order to ensure that people’s fundamental rights are not infringed on as well as help decongest the correctional centres.

As part of her humanitarian services, the Council has donated gift items like bags of rice, cartons of Indomie noodles, various food items are well as buckets for handwashing to the correctional centres. Mr. Ubulom particularly commended the Ikot Abasi Custodial Centre for cleanliness and compliance to the Covid-19 precautionary measures.