Osun State Governor, Gboyega Oyetola, yesterday, freed eleven inmates of Ilesa and Ile-Ife Correctional Centres in the state.

The governor, who paid the fines to free the inmates during a critical review of their cases, which range from stealing, conspiracy, to fraud among others, said the amnesty was to decongest the prisons.

The state Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr. Femi Akande, who led a delegation of his ministry to the two Correctional Centres, urged the freed inmates not to return to the crimes, in which they were convicted.

Akande, who was represented by the Solicitor General and Permanent Secretary, Adekemi Bello, facilitated their release after offsetting the required fines on behalf of the state governor.

The authorities of the two facilities had earlier approached Oyetola, separately on the urgent need to assist some of the inmates in offsetting the various fines levied against them, which they could not pay, thus making them to languish in the prison for many years.

Speaking after the inmates were freed, Deputy Controller of the Osun Command of the Nigeria Correctional Centre, Ilesa, Mr. Olusola Amoran commended Governor Oyetola for decongesting the facility through the amnesty.

He advised the released inmates to see their freedom as opportunity to be of good behaviour and should not return to crime.

Amoran stressed the need for the freed inmates to get themselves engaged in legitimate businesses that will earn them a living.