As part of the Federal Government’s efforts towards decongesting the nation’s detention facilities, President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday pardoned 500 inmates at the Kurmawa Central Prisons in Kano State.

At the ceremony, President Buhari who is on a two day official visit to the state pledged that prison reforms and de-congestion would continue to receive the required prompt attention it needed from his administration.

According to a statement released by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, the 500 inmates granted pardon, including men and women were drawn from various prisons in Kano including the Kurmawa Prisons which has 1,398 inmates against its established capacity of 750.

“This building in front of us was built since 1910. Rehabilitation of prisoners and training of inmates is very important to us and we would continue to invest more on this.

“I asked one of the released inmates how old he was and he told me he is only 19 years old. If we have people of 18 and 19 years in the prison, and there is no continuous training, then their lives will be completely destroyed. We will invest more in education and vocational training,” the statement quoted President Buhari as saying.

The President further advised the freed inmates to henceforth be of good conduct and discard behaviour that would see them return to the prison, charging them to engage in lawful ventures that would ensure they became useful and transformed members of the society.

The President thereafter gave each of the affected inmates undisclosed amounts of money to enable them transport themselves to their respective homes.