By Emeka Mamah

Enugu State governor, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, yesterday commuted the death sentences passed on five prisoners awaiting the hangmen’s noose at Enugu Prisons to life imprisonment just as he pardoned two other inmates of the prisons.

This was the first time a sitting governor would exercise his powers of prerogative of mercy in the state since the return of democracy in the country in 1999.

The state Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr Mellitus Eze, who announced this said that the governor’s action was in line with the government’s policy of “Justice for All.”

Eze noted, “The Governor of Enugu State has performed his statutory duty by granting amnesty to some inmates of the Enugu Prisons.

“As you heard from the Enugu Prisons Comptroller General, since 1999, this exercise has not been carried out in the state but because of the nature of the governor we have, he has decided to carry out this function.”