As part of activities marking the 2025 Democracy Day, Borno State Governor, Babagana Umara Zulum, has granted state and partial pardons to 66 inmates at the Maiduguri Maximum Custodial Centre.
During his visit to the correctional facility on Thursday, the governor announced the clemency, which also included commuting some death sentences to life imprisonment and reducing the jail terms of several others.
The decision, he said, was based on the recommendations of the Advisory Committee on the Prerogative of Mercy.
“By the powers vested in me under Section 212 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, and in line with the committee’s recommendations, I grant pardons to 66 inmates,” Zulum declared.
He also revealed plans to enhance the vocational training centre within the prison. The governor directed the state’s Ministry of Education, Science, Technology, and Innovation to collaborate with prison authorities to provide inmates with intensive literacy, numeracy, and digital skills programs.
In a show of support for the welfare of inmates, Zulum donated 300 bags of rice, 50 jerrycans of cooking oil, and five cows.
Each of the 1,280 inmates also received a cash gift of N20,000, to be managed by correctional officers in accordance with legal guidelines.
“The funds will be kept by the prison officials, but inmates will be able to access them when necessary,” the governor clarified.
He urged the inmates to embrace discipline and contribute to peace and stability within the state.
Borno State Correctional Service Controller, Ahmed Bawa, praised the governor’s continued support, calling it unprecedented.
He noted that earlier in May, the state had also donated food and livestock to the facility.
“This level of assistance is historic and deeply appreciated by both staff and inmates,” Bawa said.
Speaking on behalf of the inmates, their leader, Daniel Simon, thanked Governor Zulum for his generosity, adding that the positive impact of his administration is being felt even behind prison walls.