By Yekini Jimoh
The Chief Judge of Kogi, Hon. Justice Josiah Majebi, has advised ex-convicts who recently gained freedom through the Idewole Foundation’s intervention to shun bad companies, social vices, and criminal activities that could lead them back to prison.
The Chief Judge gave this advice while receiving some of the ex-convicts who underwent training in solar installation sponsored by the Foundation. He commended the Foundation for its efforts in rehabilitating the ex-convicts and providing them with skills to become self-sustaining.
It be recalled that the Idewole Foundation, through the Chairman of the Kogi State House of Assembly Committee on Judiciary, Justice and Legal Matters, Hon. Halidu Adejoh, joined the CJ during the decongestion exercise and secured the release of some convicts after paying their judgment fines. The Foundation subsequently took those who were ready to acquire skills for a three-month training program in Abuja.
The beneficiaries were also given N300,000 each, at the end of the training, as startup capital by the Foundation. The fund was routed through the judiciary after the program for onward disbursement to the recipients to ensure proper handling just as their visit was to appreciate the CJ and collect their money.
After the Foundation’s plea, the judiciary had undertaken to coordinate the ex-convicts, who were mostly teenagers, for the training program to make them self-sustaning and become better citizens.
Justice Majebi demanded responsibility from parents too while particularly asking the elusive father of one of the boys to show up and take his responsibilities. The boy’s parents had abandoned the boy, even after he was freed, on the claim that the father had suffered several arrests in the past because of the boy and therefore refused to show up for fear of arrest.
The CJ called on the father who still lives in Aiyetoro to brace up for proper parenting and face the challenges of training his son especially now that the boy has been rehabilitated and he’s ready to deploy the skills learnt at the training purposefully.
Earlier, the Deputy Chief Registrar, Magistracy at the High Court of Justice, Barr. Olurunshola Toba, who coordinated the training program on behalf of the High Court, reported that he witnessed significant improvements in the boys after the training saying they have “completely changed after the program.”
The DCR who exercised the mandate of liaising between the families of the ex-convicts, the Foundation and the judiciary throughout the training period, reported that the ex-convicts were adjudged to have been well-behaved and concentrative throughout the training program.
He however added that the parents of one of them released in Kabba had rejected his teenage son saying he had “dashed the boy to the government”.
“After the prison visit, forms were distributed for those interested for the skill acquisition program which only few turned up. We took the six of them to Abuja and last month I was called upon to represent their parents and the institution.
“They were given N300,000 each out of which N50,000 is meant to purchase solar installation equipment.
“I asked one of them whose father said he has dashed government how he’ll go about himself and he said he would give his money to his parents but I told him it would amount to diversion of the fund and declined him. The reason was that when the boy was released from prison, neither the father nor the mother came for him. Despite release, he remained in prison till the time the training commenced. But before we left for Abuja, his Aunty who was taking care of him before he committed the offence that took him to prison, having been disowned by his father, signed for him. When I got to their Aiyetoro hometown, the father refused to show up and I was told that his refusal was in fear of arrest as he had suffered several arrests before because of the boy.
“After our return, I was relating with the Aunty but when I asked her to come with the boy to collect the money, she declined saying she doesn’t want to touch the boy’s money but would rather notify his mother. Subsequently, I got a call from a woman who claimed to be the biological mother of the boy but when she started asking only about the money, I decided that the Aunt who stood by him, when he needed somebody most, should be given the privilege of continuing to guard the boy but since she declined, we couldn’t go further. Neither the boy nor any of his parents is here now.
“I eventually asked the boy to go to Aiyetoro so I can speak with the said mother but up till now nobody has called me” he disclosed.
The number two Judicial Officer in the Kogi State Council of Judges who was present, Hon. Justice Abdul Awulu, frowned at the rejection of the boy by the parents noting that they can face charges for abandonment. While saying the well-being of the boy was paramount in the meantime, he added his voice to the CJ’s directive that the Directorates of Magistracy and Establishment and Training liaise with relevant government agencies to take care of the boy.
Meanwhile, two other parents, an uncle and a widow who accompanied their ward and child respectively, expressed their gratitude to the CJ and the Foundation as they reported that they noticed considerable changes in their wards since they returned from the training. They pledged to judiciously commit the fund to the purpose for which it was meant.
The Chief Judge ordered the boy’s money to be kept safe and whoever is interested in the welfare of the boy must come with him to claim the money and be told how to utilise it.
He thanked the Foundation, the Chairman, and members of the House of Assembly committee on judicial matters for the roles they have played in the ex-convicts’ lives just as he commended the DCR- Magistracy for his efforts and traveling risks around to ensure the program came to fruition.
Before their departure, the CJ asked if they would like to return to the prison and they all responded with an emphatic no. He then advised them to be serious and focused in their new endeavours.
When asked about their experiences, one of the beneficiaries responded that it was worthwhile saying he learned a lot about solar installation and was happy that he can now install it. He said the demand for alternative power supply in the country would be beneficial as he foresaw solar installation as a potentially lucrative business.
