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(Releases Prisoners. Photo by Daily Post)
A state government committee in Adamawa has freed 51 prisoners to help reduce overcrowding in local jails.
Most of those freed had light sentences, and some were released because of health problems.
The Adamawa State Jail Delivery Committee carried out the discharges on Wednesday at the Yola Old Correctional Centre in Yola South Local Government Area.
The committee is chaired by the state’s Chief Judge, Justice Hafsat Abdulrahaman.
The committee also tried 39 inmates who had been waiting a long time for their trials.
It granted bail to 26 others and reviewed the sentences of 21 inmates serving various terms.
Speaking after the exercise, Justice Hafsat urged the freed inmates to live well when they return to their communities.
She warned that if any of them are arrested and convicted of another offence, they will not get the same leniency.
The committee includes representatives of the Nigerian Bar Association, the Deputy Chief Registrar of the State Area Court, the Legal Department of the Adamawa State Police Command, the Director of Public Prosecutions in the Ministry of Justice and the Controller of the Nigerian Correctional Service, among others.