Aare Musulumi of Yorubaland, Alhaji Dawud Akinola, visited Agodi Prison, Ibadan, Oyo State, recently assisted five indigent prisoners who had been unable to pay fines imposed on them by courts for committing minor offences.
Nigerian Tribune reported that the popular merchant, who made the gesture as part of activities marking two years of his turbaning as the Aare Musulumi of Yorubaland, paid about N500,000 to secure the freedom of the prisoners.
“This was also done to support the government’s efforts to free the prison of people whose continued stay in the facility is not a measure of the gravity of the offences they committed. It was also as a way of helping the decongestion of prisons embarked upon by the authorities,” Akinola said.
He promised to reactivate the borehole inside the prison through the donation of a pumping machine.
The Muslim leader urged the freed inmates never to return to crime but instead learn vocations that would earn them legitimate living.
Akinola told the prison authorities of his readiness to engage two lawyers to provide free services for inmates with minor offences.
The Deputy Comptroller in charge of the prison, Mr Olufemi Ogunyadi, expressed the appreciation of the Nigerian prisons authorities to Alhaji Akinola and called on other well-to-do individuals in the society to emulate his gesture.
