Niger — Life of the Niger State Governor, Hajiya Jummai Babangida Aliyu has set up a computer training centre for Minna Prison inmates. Speaking at the inauguration of the centre at the Minna old prison yesterday, Hajiya Aliyu said the gesture was aimed at equipping the inmates with computer skills to be able to meet greater challenges after serving their prison terms.

She explained that her pet project "Life Rehab Foundation" has observed that there is little or no provision in the country for the effective reintegration of prisoners into the society and is poised to fill that vacuum.

According to her, the Foundation has designed a comprehensive programme with the aim of ensuring prison decongestion through payment of fines for convicts, re-settlement of ex-convicts, skill acquisition programmes for prison inmates and after care services for the ex-convicts to make sure that they do not go back to their old criminal habits.

As a demonstration of her resolve, she secured the immediate release of 15 inmates by paying various fines, which they could not afford to pay when they were convicted. Aliyu admonished the lucky beneficiaries of her gesture to have the fear of God in mind and avoid doing anything that could warrant their coming back to prison.

She explained that the main objective of her Foundation is to promote girl-child education, women empowerment, assistance to old people's homes and orphanages, as well as to assist convicts and ex-convicts to pick the pieces of their lives back again.

The controller of the Minna prison, Alh. Nuhu Ibrahim Zuru, in his address, thanked the governor's wife for identifying with the plight of prisoners in the state. He disclosed that the corrective facilities in the prison are obsolete, overstretched and ineffective and appealed to the state government to intervene in rectifying these anomalies. Nine complete computer sets were provided at the training centre for the inmates.