The Federal Government is set to flag off the payment of fines and compensations for inmates held on accounts of their inability to pay fines as penalties for their crimes.
This was contained in a newsletter signed by the Minister of Interior’s Media Aide, Alao Babatunde today, tagged “Interior Round-Up”.
The newsletter reads that “a total of the inmates to benefits from the intervention are four thousand and sixty-eight (4,068) drawn across correctional centres in the country.”
The Minister of Interior, Bunmi Tunji-Ojo revealed that the federal government spent no Kobo in offsetting the fines.
He revealed that the N585 million to be paid was funded through a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiative from private sector players and philanthropists nationwide.
Recall that the Minister of Interior had in October revealed plans to decongest correctional facilities, saying about 4,000 inmates are in prison due to their inability to pay a total of about five hundred million naira in fines.
He assured that the fines would be cleared and the inmates would be released in four weeks.