Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State

NIGERIA: EKITI STATE GOVERNOR FAYEMI PARDONS 8 PRISONERS, 2 BROTHERS ON DEATH ROW

October 1, 2013: Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State, Nigeria, granted pardon to 10 prisoners, including two brothers on death row, as part of activities to mark the country’s independence anniversary in the state.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the reprieve that came their way was also in commemoration of the 17 years of the creation of the state.
Two of the prison inmates were brothers - Olabode Abirifon and Julius Abirifon, who were sentenced to death by the State High Court, but had their death sentence communed to life imprisonment.
The governor, in a statewide broadcast, said the duo had been on the death row for 16 years.
Eight others, Ousola Ojo, Alex Qasum, Segun Olowoyo, Simon Okewe, Opeyemi Ogundele, Joseph Adefase, Taiwo Ibikunle and Kehinde Fagbemi, who had been serving various prison terms, were released unconditionally.
Fayemi said he was exercising the power conferred on him by the 1999 Constitution and on recommendation of the State Advisory Council on the Prerogative of Mercy.
The governor, however, warned that criminals should not take his magnanimity as licence to continue their evil habit, saying anyone caught would be prosecuted. (Sources: leadership.ng, 01/10/2013)