Adamawa prison decongestion team excludes Shila Boys, rapists, kidnappers from pardon

A body constituted to extend mercy to deserving prisoners, the Adamawa State Jail Delivery Committee, has excluded certain categories of inmates from those to be considered for pardon.

The committee is declining pardon to inmates accused of ‘shila gangsterism’, perpetuated by young men named in local parlance as Shila Boys who specialize in robbing residents of phones, cash and other personal possessions, often in broad daylight.

The committee has also excluded people charged with kidnapping, rape and armed robbery.

The committee, headed by the state’s Chief Judge, Justice Hapsat Abdulrahaman, declined pardon to the convened inmates when it visited Yolde Pate Correctional Centre on Thursday.

Precisely, as articulated in its guideline, the committee refused to consider the cases of those awaiting or standing trial for offences that include culpable homicide, armed robbery, Shila gangsterism, rape and kidnapping.

The committee had earlier stressed in a statement by the Director Information of the State Judiciary, Sunday Kadiri, that such cases will be exempted from consideration during decongestion visits to correctional centres across the state.