The Chairman of Springtime Development Foundation, Dr. Deji Adeleke, has said the foundation has concluded plans to secure jobs for some ex-convicts in order to properly integrate them back into the society.
Adeleke, who is the father of the musical star, Davido said this on Friday evening when his foundation visited Ile Ife Prison to donate 300 mattresses and the same number of pillows to the inmates and to offset the medical bills of the sick ones among them.
The Chief Executive Officer, Dr Samuel Oyalabu, who said this on behalf of the chairman said this would reduce the propensity for crimes among ex-convicts, who he said always found it difficult to be accepted back into the society after their jail terms.
He said, “The foundation is not just here to donate items to the inmates but it has concluded plans to secure jobs for some of the ex-convicts. This will make them contribute their own quotas to the development of the nation at large.
“Being engaged productively will also keep them busy and can lure them away from further engaging in crimes.”
According to him, the foundation is also planning to introduce computer training, carpentry, barring and other skills to the inmates of the prison and others.
The Vice Chairman of the foundation, Banji Adesuyi, also called on the Federal Government to pay more attention to the general welfare of inmates in prisons across the nation.
He said the visit to the prison was not only to distribute mattresses to those that are still in custody but also to secure the release of a number of inmates, who were sentenced to prison with options of fine but were unable to pay.
He said the distribution of the mattresses and pillows was part of the efforts of the founder, Adeleke, to alleviate the suffering of the inmates who hitherto had been sleeping on bare floors.
He said, “The gesture is today extended to the inmates of Ile Ife Prison as the Foundation did at Ilesa prison. Some of the inmates who are unable to pay fine monetarily have in one way or the other been assisted just as their hospital bills would also be offset.”
The Assistant Controller of Prison, Ile Ife, Mr. Mathew Ajagono Expressed gratitude to the foundation, saying the gesture was an unprecedented one.
Some of the inmates also expressed gratitude the foundation for alleviating their suffering.
