..to strengthen the facility’s skills-training programmes

By Peter Duru, Makurdi

10 sick inmates at the Medium Security Custodial Centre in Gboko, Benue State are benefiting from the free life-saving surgeries sponsored by the former Chairman of the Benue Internal Revenue Service (BIRS), Chief Mimi Adzape-Orubibi

Chief Adzape-Orubibi also promised additional support, including sewing machines and computers to strengthen the facility’s skills-training programmes and help inmates become self-reliant after their release.

She further donated a 5,000-litre JP water tank to address the centre’s persistent water scarcity.

The former BIRS Chairman also held a thanksgiving mass with the inmates saying the gesture was done to mark her 50th birthday celebration.

Chief Adzape-Orubibi explained that intervention followed the example of her late mother, who she said was known for visiting prisons “to share what she had with the less privileged.”

She pledged that she would “continue footing medical bills for inmates, not only for hernia operations but for other ailments as well. And I pray that none of you would come down with life-threatening illnesses.”

She commended the Officer-in-Charge of the Centre, Assistant Comptroller of Prisons, ACP, Moses Ikya, for maintaining a clean, humane and well-managed environment, noting that inmates looked healthy, neat and well cared for.

ACP Ikya expressed gratitude to the celebrant for choosing to mark her golden jubilee with the inmates. While applauding her sustained support, he appealed to other well-meaning individuals to assist the facility, particularly in the areas of skills acquisition, health care, and registration of inmates for SSCE and NABTEB examinations.

Earlier, the Chaplain of the Centre, Rev. Fr. Isaiah Ter, urged inmates to seek God’s forgiveness through sincere repentance and positive actions, reminding them through the story of Zacchaeus, that no sin was beyond God’s mercy.

He encouraged them to “embrace determination, courage and remorse in their journey toward transformation.”

The celebration featured a Holy Mass, cake cutting, donation of items, and a visit to St. John’s Hospital Gboko, where the sponsored surgeries were being carried out.