RismadarVoice Reporters
October 2, 2026
Enugu State Governor Peter Mbah has approved the pardon, release and commutation of sentences of 13 inmates in correctional facilities across the state as part of activities marking Nigeria’s 66th Independence anniversary.
The decision followed consultations with the Enugu State Advisory Council on the Prerogative of Mercy and was taken under the governor’s constitutional powers.
The beneficiaries are Kenneth Ozioko, Moses Saliyat, Promise Ndudim Olung, Chijioke Ugwu, Samuel Ani, Eugene Odo, Celsus Emeachi, Caleb Jatto, Calistus Eze, Gabriel Onu, Timothy Ani, Ernest Okeke and Ejike Nwodo.
The state government said some of the inmates were granted pardon and released, while the death sentences of others were commuted to life imprisonment.
The approval was communicated to the Enugu State Command of the Nigerian Correctional Service through the Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Osinachi Nnajieze.
According to the state government, the recommendations considered factors including reports of ill health and evidence of behavioural reform among some of the inmates.
The Nigerian Correctional Service made recommendations to the Advisory Council on the Prerogative of Mercy, which is chaired by the state Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice.
The council also includes representatives of the Nigerian Correctional Service, the Carmelite Prisoners Interest Organisation, the Catholic Institute for Development, Justice and Peace, and other stakeholders in the justice sector.
Section 212 of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, empowers a state governor to exercise the prerogative of mercy in relation to offences created by state law after consultation with the state’s Advisory Council on the Prerogative of Mercy.
The constitutional provision allows a governor to grant pardons, substitute a less severe form of punishment, grant respite from the execution of punishment or remit all or part of a sentence.
The latest exercise formed part of activities by the Enugu State Government to commemorate Nigeria’s 66th Independence anniversary.
