Gov Ugwuanyi Celebrates 53nd Birthday With Prison Inmates

It was pomp and celebration at Enugu Maximum Prisons yesterday as Enugu State Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi celebrated his 53rd birthday with the inmates. The governor said his choice to celebrate with the inmates was to witness firsthand how the inmates fared, and areas his administration could assist the agency.

“It is indeed a cardinal responsibility of the government to cater for the wellbeing of everybody and every segment, group or class in the society. We have in this respect taken full notice of the sewage and allied challenges confronting this prison and have resolved to take necessary measures to address them adequately and satisfactorily,” he said.

He used the event to announce that his administration had earmarked the sum of N10m to enable lawyers and other stakeholders to take up cases of the inmates with a view to facilitating their release.

The comptroller of Enugu Prisons Command, Mrs Ukwuori Ndukwe Kalu, thanked Governor Ugwuanyi for his decision to celebrate his 53rd birthday with inmates of the Enugu Maximum Prison. According to her, the governor’s choice of the Enugu prison for the celebration was the first of its kind since the establishment of the place in 1937.

In her words, “Your prompt intervention during the Nsukka jailbreak incident in 2016, renovation and tiling of cells at Enugu Prison, granting of pardon to deserving inmates as well as the release of funds for the procurement of drugs to prison inmates and the installation of industrial fans in the cells at Enugu state prisons clearly demonstrate your humane leadership.”

Highlights of the event were the donation of items to the inmates by the governor, and musical displays by the inmates.

Members of the state executive council, those of the state assembly and local government chairmen were among the dignitaries that graced the occasion.