Nasarawa State Government has donated 500 mattresses and blankets to Nigeria Prison Service for prompt distribution to prisons across the state.
Alhaji Abdullahi Mohammed, Secretary to the State Government (SSG) presented the items in Lafia on Wednesday to Mr Ekwere Ekanem, the Comptroller of Prisons in the state.
Mohammed said the donation was in fulfillment of the state governor’s promise during his visit to the Lafia prison on Democracy Day.
“Our caring governor has gladly given approval for the purchase of these products to be released to the prison service for distribution to prisoners across the state to alleviate hardship they face in the prisons.
“I pray that it will prove useful to our prisons in the state, rehabilitate and mould the character of the prisoners in the near future to be responsible and law abiding Nigerians’’, he said.
Responding, Ekanem expressed joy over the gesture, saying it would add value to the living condition of the inmates.
“We are indeed very grateful for what we are witnessing this afternoon. When the governor made the pledge, we never anticipated it would be so soon.
“ This shows the magnanimity and caring heart he posses and we are indeed grateful’’, he said.
The controller revealed that some of the inmates sleep on bare floor or share bed with other inmates.
“Some of these mattresses will immediately go to Lafia prisons for distribution and during the week, other prisons across the state will get their share.
“As i am talking to you, some of these inmates are sleeping on bare floor or sharing; this is not what we want in our prisons,” he said. (NAN).