The board chairman of the Prison Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN), Dr Olayide Adelami, has charged inmates of the Owo correctional centre to spend their time reflecting on the words of God and to acknowledge Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.
Adelami gave the advise on Wednesday while visiting the custodial centre in Owo to celebrate Christmas with the inmates.
Referencing the book of Isaiah chapter 9 verse 6, Adelami, who is the current deputy governor of Ondo state, said, “Jesus was born to shoulder the responsibilities of everyone in the world, including you. So, no matter how heavy you think your burden is, he will give you absolute peace because he is the ‘Prince of Peace’.
“When you accept Him as your personal Lord and Saviour, He washes away your sins and gives you a new lease of life.
“Today, being the day He was born, is a day to share the love of God, kindness, and mercy, which is why I am here to celebrate with you, and to share His good news with you and let you know that, Jesus truly cares about you.”
The PFN board chairman said the fellowship was established to give hope to inmates, and to make life easy for newly released inmates after incarceration.
“As a fellowship, the PFN goes to custodial facilities to preach the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, and also take care of some of the needs of inmates in order to make their lives behind bars bearable
“We have proposed an idea where issues can be resolved before litigation, to reduce the number of cases going to the courts and also decongest correctional facilities due to large number of inmates awaiting trial. This is being practiced in Lagos state as a pilot scheme .
He also talked about the vision of the board to establish a rehabilitation centre where newly released inmates will be well trained and equipped with basic skills before being released to the larger society.
Appreciating the deputy governor, the correctional officer in charge of the facility, Assistant Controller of Corrections Wale Ojo, said the visit will motivate the inmates to be of good behaviour and not return to things that will bring them back to correctional centres after being released.