Illegal miners, white-collar convicts, remorseful drug offenders, foreigners, Major General Mamman Vatsa, Major Akubo, Professor Magaji Garba, capital offenders such as Maryam Sanda, Ken Saro Wiwa, and the other Ogoni Eight were among the 175 convicts and former convicts who received President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s mercy on Thursday.
President Tinubu granted clemency to most of them based on the reports that the convicts had shown remorse and good conduct. He forgave some due to old age, the acquisition of new vocational skills, or enrolment in the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN). President Tinubu also corrected the historic injustice committed by British colonialists against Sir Herbert Macaulay, one of Nigeria’s foremost nationalists.
In all, the Presidential Advisory Committee on the Prerogative of Mercy, chaired by the Attorney-General and Justice Minister, Prince Lateef Olasunkanmi Fagbemi, recommended pardon for two inmates, 15 former convicts, 11 of whom have died. The committee recommended clemency for 82 inmates and commutation of sentences for 65 inmates. Seven inmates on death row also benefited from the Presidential reprieve. The committee recommended that the President should commute their death sentences to life imprisonment.
Prince Fagbemi presented the committee’s report at the Council of State meeting, chaired by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
FULL LIST OF BENEFICIARIES OF PRESIDENT TINUBU’S MERCY
PARDONED
POSTHUMOUS PARDON
POSTHUMOUS PARDON: THE OGONI NINE
VICTIMS OF OGONI NINE HONOURED:
Chief Albert Badey
Chief Edward Kobaru
Chief Samuel Orage
Chief Theophilus Orage
PRESIDENTIAL CLEMENCY
Most of the beneficiaries showed either remorse or learned vocational skills in jail
1. Aluagwu Lawrence, aged 47, sentenced for Indian hemp (selling), 2015
2. Ben Friday, aged 60, was sentenced to 3 years or N1.3 million fine for marijuana in 2023.
3. Oroke Micheal Chibueze, aged 21, sentenced to 5 years (cannabis sativa) in 2023
4. Kelvin Christopher Smith, aged 42, was sentenced to 4 years for importing cocaine in 2023
5. Azubuike Jeremiah Emeka, aged 31, sentenced in 2021 to 5 years or N3 million fine for importing cocaine.
6. Akinrinnade Akinwande Adebiyi, aged 47, sentenced in 2023 to 3 years for dealing in Tramadol.
7. Ahmed Adeyemo, aged 38, sentenced to 15 years for cannabis. Already served nine years, 5 months at Kirikiri
8. Adeniyi Jimoh, aged 31years, sentenced to 15 years for Drugs in 2015 and served nine years at Kirikiri.
9. Seun Omirinde, aged 39, sentenced to 15 years for Drugs in 2015. Served nine years at Kirikiri
10. Adesanya Olufemi Paul, aged 61, sentenced to 14 years for theft. Had served eight years.
11. Ife Yusuf, aged 37, was sentenced for human trafficking in 2019. Had served six years at Kirikiri.
12. Daniel Bodunwa, aged 43, was sentenced in 2018 to 10 years for fraudulent intent to forge a land receipt. Had served six years in jail
13. Fidelis Michael, aged 40, sentenced to 5 years for cannabis sativa
14. Suru Akande, aged 52, sentenced to 5 years for cannabis sativa
15. Safiyanu Umar, aged 56, sentenced to 5 years without the option of a fine for possessing 5kg of Cannabis sativa, 2023
16. Dahiru Abdullahi, aged 46, was sentenced in 2016 to 21 years for possession of 3 pistols and had spent 10 years in jail.
17. Hamza Abubakar, aged 37, sentenced to 5 years for Indian hemp (selling), 2022
18. Rabiu Alhassan Dawaki, aged 52, sentenced in 2020 to 7 years for criminal breach of trust.
19. Mujibu Muhammad, aged 30, sentenced in 2022 to 5 years, no option for a fine for cannabis.
20. Emmanuel Eze, aged 49, sentenced in 2022 to 5 years for Heroine.
21. Bala Azika Yahaya, aged 70, sentenced in 2017 to 15 years for cannabis.
22. Lina Kusum Wilson, aged 34, sentenced to death in 2017 for culpable homicide, had spent eight years in jail.