Gombe Renaissance Initiative (GRI) Frees 17 Inmates from Gombe Prison.

By Abu-Ubaidah Ibrahim Kuna

Gombe Renaissance Initiative (GRI) is a non governmental Organization aimed at contributing their quota to the development of Gombe State, through Fostering unity, involvement in the developmental strides of Gombe State, Mutual assistance to less privilege and Leadership development of our dear state.

GRI has on Wednesday, 14th February,2017 freed Seventeen inmates of Gombe prison who were jailed because of minor offences and could not pay option of fine. GRI paid their fines .

The ex-prisoners who were fined between N3000 and N10, 000 and compensation between N5000 and N15000 for offences ranging from loitering to stealing said they could not pay their fines because they were poor and helpless and were mostly youths ranging between 18-30, they included Suleiman Umar Gurama 22, Ibrahim Musa 20, Muhammad Auwal 27, Abubakar Musa 20, Ibrahim Dauda 20, Faisal Inusa 25, Ali Adamu 18 and Adamu Abubakar 20, just to mention but few.

Earlier, the President of the GRI,Alh. Salisu Abubakar who was ably represented by Dr. Umar Adamu (TJ) of the department of Public Administration, Gombe State University said many people serving jail terms in prisons across the country were often youths who were detained as a result of their inability to pay a little fine. He said that GRI's passion for the youth of Gombe State and the country at large encouraged the organization to provide a better life for the people and hence secure good future for them.

Umar expressed shock at the number of youths found in the prison. He charged them to turn a new page after their freedom, as this should be reformation for a better life.

He added that Gombe Renaissance Initiative has a passion for the youths not only in Gombe State but across the country. " Many of the youths across Nigeria are victims of circumstances, sometimes for no faults of theirs".

Some of the youths who are jailed in Gombe Prison were not able to be freed due to the lingering poverty in the country. "So our mission is mainly to do as much as we can to help them out, if possible put them on the right track in one way or the other so that they do not go back in to their previous condition", he said.

He also commended the cordial and harmonious relationship exhibited by the officers in charge of Gombe prison and the representatives of GRI.

Also speaking, Mal. Adamu Ahmed of Sociology Department of the Gombe State University has called on the ex-convicts to avoid repeating the mistakes of the past and urged them to become useful to their various communities.

His words: Our problems as a community is that, whenever one is convicted and jailed, people will be seeing him as problem to the entire community and he will become stigmatized, sometimes he may be denied of many rights and opportunities, I urged the general public to relate with the ex-convicts in a good manner".

In his comments, the Durbin Gombe, Alh. Lamido Abubakar said Gombe Renaissance Initiative touches the area needed to be touched by the NGOs, Individuals as well as the government.

Durbi said that decongestion of prisons through the GRI's effort is highly commendable and an effort worthy of emulation."The government should create employment for the youths and establish vocational centres to end idleness in Nigeria",

He expressed reservation over the way and manner youths are being sentenced to jail in Nigeria. He called on the people to learn from what GRI did by freeing some inmates in Gombe Prisons through the payment of their fines and compensation as such would change the condition and mindset of most of the youths and the general public at large.