Ekiti State Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, has pardoned 16 inmates serving in various correctional service facilities in the state.
The governor also commuted the death sentence on two inmates to life imprisonment.
These were contained in a statement signed and made available to journalists yesterday by the Ekiti State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Olawale Fapohunda.
All the affected inmates are at the Nigerian Correctional Service facilities in Ado Ekiti and the Maximum Security Prison, Kirikiri, in Lagos.
The beneficiaries of the governor’s amnesty include Olowo Ajayi, Ojo Sunday, Sunday Fanimara, Olusuyi Dare Olaifa, Williams Sunday, Sylvanus Oferufega, Lucky Suberu and Babatunde Ogunjobi.
Others include Tope Ajayi, Lawrence Idowu Bamidele, Ogunboyo Richard, Ayodele Ayinde, Adebayo Ojo, Akeem Adebayo, Abirifon Julius and Abirifon Olabode.
According to the attorney general, Tunde Abe and Adeniyi Owolabi, who were on death row, had their sentences commuted from death to life imprisonment.
He said the development was predicated on the recommendation of the Ekiti State Advisory on Prerogative of Mercy, noting 50 applications were considered for clemency at its third sitting, but only 18 met the set criteria.
Fapohunda said the inmates were considered to benefit from the prerogative of mercy after due examination of their case files, which revealed that they had been reformed and ready for re-integration into the society.
He, however, congratulated the beneficiaries of the amnesty granted by the governor, urging them to avoid acts that led them into prison in the first place.