Kaduna State Governor, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, on Tuesday, approved the release of 72 convicts from the Kaduna and Kafanchan correctional centres.
This was part of government’s efforts to curb the spread of COVID-19 in the correctional facilities.
President Muhammadu Buhari had, penultimate Thursday, approved the release of 2,600 inmates as part of measures to decongest the correctional facilities and curb the coronavirus spread.
Announcing the governor’s gesture on Tuesday, the Kaduna State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Aisha Dikko, said 69 of the convicts were released from the Kaduna Correctional Centre while three were freed in the Kafanchan correctional facility.
Dikko said the 42 inmates, freed from the Kaduna Correctional Centre had been given an option of fine not exceeding N50,000 by the court.
The commissioner said four inmates were serving three years and above, and had less than six months to go.
The attorney general added that one of the inmates had spent 75 per cent of his prison term while 22 others were convicted of minor offences.