Gov. Ademola Adeleke of Osun has ordered the commutation of the sentences of 53 convicts, including a boy sentenced to death for stealing chicken and eggs.

Adeleke, in a statement by his spokesperson Olawale Rasheed on Thursday, said the order was in line with the recommendations of the State Advisory Council on Prerogative of Mercy.
He said the recommendation by the council is to mark the 2024 Christmas celebration.

“Gov. Ademola Adeleke has exercised the prerogative of mercy towards 53 convicts serving various convictions within the Nigerian Correctional Service.

“The letter of commutation, dated Dec. 24, has since been received and acknowledged by the relevant prison authorities,” he said.

He said the inmates recommended for the ‘prerogative of mercy’ are inmates convicted of simple offences who have served substantial portions of their sentences.

According to him, the prerogative of mercy also extends to convicts sentenced to death but who have spent a minimum of 10 years in custody.

“In the case of the 30 inmates convicted of simple offences, I have decided, in accordance with the said recommendation, to remit and forgive the remainder of the said sentences in whole.

“Whereas, I have decided in accordance with the said recommendation to grant an outright pardon to 12 inmates convicted of simple offences.

“Four convicts have their sentences commuted from death to outright pardon.
“And whereas I have decided in accordance with the said recommendation to commute the sentences as follows, one convict has his sentence commuted from death to 15 years of imprisonment.
“Six convicts have their sentences commuted from death to outright release,” he said.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that one of the four convicts recommended for outright pardon is ‘Segun Olowokere,’ sentenced to death at the age of 17 in 2010 for stealing chicken and eggs.

An Osun State High Court, sitting in Ikirun, convicted Olowokere alongside some others for robbing a poultry farm in Oyan, Odo-Otin Local Government Area of the state. (NAN)