100 years old Nigerian prisoner, Celestine Egbouche was finally released from Enugu state prison on Thursday, June 6th, 2019 where he was serving a life sentence. He has spent 19 years in the Enugu Maximum Prison along with his son and a relative who were all accused of plotting murder.
The centenarian who hails from Imo state was the subject of several amnesty campaigns. Global Society for Anti-Corruption (GSAC) petitioned a plea to the former governor of Imo state, Rochas Okorocha, pleading for Egbouche’s pardon. And finally, just before the governor left office, he granted him pardon.
The elderly ex-convict was received by the representatives of GSAC as well as his only surviving daughter outside the Enugu maximum prison.
GSAC has this to say about Egbouche’s release:
“The Global Society for Anti-Corruption, on behalf of the President, Mr. Frank Ezeona, are here to thank God for what he has done today. We bless the name of the Lord for how far he has been with Pa Celestine and making this day a reality.
Actually on the 5th of September, we petitioned the president of our dear country and past Governor of Imo state, Rochas Okorocha pleading for pardon for Pa Celestine.
His pardon was granted based on his age and his health condition because we found out that his health condition was worsening every day. As a centenarian, he is not supposed to be in prison. When you check other countries you can’t find someone of his age in prison.
On Sunday, I got a call from the former Attorney General of Imo state that he has been granted pardon by the state government.So I went to the prison, met with the DCP and confirmed from him that they had gotten the message of his pardon. He said that they were processing the paper for his release and finally today, by the special grace of God”
he was released.
The daughter of the aged ex-convict is another person who is full of praise and gratitude to God about the release of her father. In her words,
“I am so grateful to God who made this day a reality, who made it possible for my father to come out of prison after spending over 19 years in the prison. I thank the NGO whose effort made it possible for my father to be released this day without charging us anything. May God continue to bless them,”
Being a diabetic patient, the recently released prisoner was rushed to a hospital after his release where he is currently undergoing medical checkup and treatment.
