Governor Simon Lalong of Plateau State, yesterday, said he will grant pardon to 28 inmates in Jos prison as his administration celebrates one year in office.
Lalong disclosed this during a media parley held at the banquet hall of the Government House in Little Rayfield, Jos, to mark his one year in office.
He said, “We have not been trying for prisoners in the state, for many years they have not been granted amnesty.
“So for the first time in our own regime and as a lawyer, I said I will not start without granting amnesty, so 28 of them will be granted state pardon this week”.
On the issue of mopping up of light arms/weapons, the governor said it is ongoing in the State.
“The security personnel are already doing that, we don’t want to announce that they are doing it, but we had warned people, if you know you are keeping weapons, it will be dangerous for you.
“We have sent signals through traditional rulers, and we’ve told them, don’t keep weapons, the security have been given the mandate.
He appealed to the citizens to corporate with security operatives in ensuring that such weapons are removed from their communities.
“We don’t want people keeping weapons, because so long as they keep it, we will not be free from crisis.
Speaking on his administration’s plans to buy back the BARC Farms from the immediate past governor of Adamawa State, Murtala Nyako; in its efforts to improve the agricultural sector in the State, Lalong said, “The immediate past governor of Adamawa State, Murtala Nyako, is offering us the farm at N1.5 billion. Initially it was N3.6 billion, but he later agreed to sell at a lower price.
“Just imagine a farm the man bought at N900 million, he is now saying we should pay him N3.6 billion,” he lamented.
“But when we sent another team to him, he said look I know you want your farm, go and bring N1.5 billion and take back your farm, but even the N1.5 billion is difficult for Plateau to pay because of its current financial status.
Lalong maintained that, BARC Farms which sold in the early 1990s was the only farm which the state can boast of, saying it has about 5, 000 hectares.
On the issue of alleged looting of the State’s treasury, the governor said the state is working with the EFCC to ensure that those who stole from the state are prosecuted.
“Imagine one person we discovered during our verification of civil servants in the state, collecting the salary of 1, 832 primary school teachers, while now we are struggling to employ teachers,” he lamented.
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