Nigerians have been urged to stop stigmatising ex-convicts after they have regained freedom from prisons in order not to drag them into committing another crime that will send them back to jail.
The call was made by the Executive Director of an NGO, Heart That Truly Cares (HTTC), Josephine Alexander Ibinola, who stressed that what such people need is care, genuine love, encouragement, and counselling.
The HTTC Ed was fielding questions from journalists on Saturday shortly after her NGO, in collaboration with the Rotary Club of Bauchi Central, the Alwadata Lifeline Initiative (ALLI), and the Atta Sister Helping Hand (ASHH) Foundation, pulled resources together to pay various sums as fines to secure the release of 21 convicts.
Josephine Ibinola said, “HTTC did 95% of the project. We visited the correctional centre to do a needs assessment, and when we discovered that we could not do it alone, we had to pull resources together. We are all Rotarians, so it was easy to come together for the project.”
Josephine Ibilola added, “When we came, we discovered that some of them were held for small fines. We have some of them that are in jail for their inability to pay as little as N10,000 and even N5,000.”
She added that “we were able to pay about N700,000 for 21 inmates. We also donated items like plates, shoes, toiletries, buckets, the Holy Qur’an, Holy Bibles, praying mats, towels, and more.”
She explained that the settling of the various fines for the 21 convicts cost above N700,000, stressing, however, that it was worth it as the people could once again breathe the air of freedom.
According to her, “We have discovered that the main issue that is militating against the rehabilitation and resettlement of ex-convicts is stigmatisation by society. They are seen as castaways, people who should not be seen interacting with others.”
Though she agreed that some of them are hard and their incarceration was a relief to the family, “We cannot just push them away. We need to show them some love and encourage them to become better and more responsible members of society.”
She then assured that HTTC will continue to partner with relevant organisations and support efforts that will make a better society, which is the main focus of the NGO.
