Sheriff’s wife grants amnesty to 5 female prisoners

AHMED MARI, Maiduguri

The wife of the Borno State Governor, Mrs. Fatima Ali Sheriff, has granted amnesty to five female prisoners in the state.

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She granted the amnesty when she toured some prisons in Maiduguri to asses the condition of prisoners, especially female prisoners with a view to assisting them. The first lady, who presented some gifts to the inmates, promised to set up skill acquisition centres in various prisons across the state to ensure that inmates are economically empowered after serving their various jail terms.

At the Professor Umaru Shehu ultra-modern hospital, Mrs. Sheriff promised to take up the issue of medical treatment of some patients who were in critical health conditions but cannot afford to pay their medical bills, and challenged wives of local government chairmen to take the issue of maternal health very seriously.

On poverty eradication, Mrs. Sheriff said, the Ministry of Women Affairs recently organised a combined graduation ceremony of products of its skill acquisition centres in Maiduguri, with over 4,000 trainees graduated in diverse fields covering tailoring, knitting, Home Economics appliances.

She also said the ministry has been collaborating with National Agency For the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons and other related matters (NAPTIP) to ensure the freedom and safety needs of victims of trafficking which is very rampant in recent times.

The ministry has also evacuated over 100 lunatics on the streets of Maiduguri, and subsequently sponsored for their treatments at the psychiatric hospital Maiduguri.