Why our world leaders must stop releasing prisoners over coronavirus -Ex-prison chaplain

Darlington Ajitemisan, was born, buttered and battered in Mushin, one of the many ghettoes in Lagos.

He confessed that he was one of the many illicit drug peddlers in Akala and other environs in Mushin, who later travelled abroad and along the line became a paid killer

However, Darlington was arrested when he returned to Nigeria and continued with his evil ways, by operatives of NDLEA, investigated and charged to court, where he was sentenced to dead by hanging.

But, God saved him from the hangman and today, Darlington is running a church at Gowon Estate in Lagos.

He speaks with EMMANUEL UDOM on the implications of releasing prisoners from prisons across the globe, under the guise of taming the spread of coronavirus and what the Nigerian government should do instead.

The government of the United States of America and Iran recently ordered the release of prisoners from their jails as a measure of curbing the spread of coronavirus. What is your take on this?

It is a dangerous move and I will suggest to other world leaders not to tow the lines of US and Iran.

Most prisons across the globe are congested, especially in developing countries like Nigeria. And the government has not told us in clear terms how many prisoners are presently infected with the corovid19 infection and what the government and authorities of the Nigerian Correctional Services are doing to checkmate the spread.

So, where do we go from here?

Instead of the federal government emulating other countries to release its prisoners, it should empower prison authorities with the necessary precautionary measures to tame the spread of the virus in our various prisons.

Remember, these prisoners also get to hear the news that are flying out daily and once they know that US, Iran and other countries are releasing their prisoners, they have the capacity to put pressure on the prison authorities and the governments to also release them.

Failure to do so could result in jailbreaks and revolts in prisons across the federation and that could be another challenge to the government at various levels.