The Bishop of Yola Catholic Diocese, Rev. Dami Mamza, has facilitated the freedom of five inmates serving various jail terms at the Yolde Pate Correctional Center in Yola, Adamawa State.

The cleric paid some undisclosed amount of money as court fine to free the convicts.

Mr Mamza also donated food and non-food items to the correctional facility to give other inmates a sense of belonging.

Items donated included 10 bags of 25kg of rice, 20 cartons of multi-purpose soap, three cartons of Izal antiseptic, 10 pieces of mats and assorted drugs.

Speaking to journalists after presenting the donation at the facility on Friday, Mr Mamza said the gesture was meant to give the inmates a sense of belonging in the spirit of Easter.

He urged the freed inmates to repent and lead a new and reformed life by exhibiting good character to the public.

Thanking the prison officials for their friendliness, the bishop observed that such display of good character was responsible for the cordial relationship between the facility and the diocese over the years.

He advised the inmates to make judicious use of the items, attributing the low-purchasing power in the country to high inflation.

Responding, the Assistant Comptroller of Corrections, Musa Usman-Gambaki, expressed appreciation for the various interventions of the diocese to the facility for a long period of time.

He thanked the inmates for their cooperation and peaceful coexistence in the facility, adding that such gesture was responsible for the goodwill the facility was attracting from the public.

Mr Usman-Gambaki advised the inmates to maintain the good tempo and urged the freed inmates to show to the world that they were good ambassadors of the facility.

Responding on behalf of the freed inmates, Michael Tizhe, who spoke in an emotional laden voice, promised to start a reformed life and thanked the bishop for remembering them.

(NAN)