By Ehichioya Steve Odion
Securing the Creative Gold mine in Youths Initiative has advocated the need to accept ex- offenders/ ex-Inmates into the society without stigmatization. The group let by the Executive Director, Edwin Asibor made this known during their Yellow Ribbon Avdocacy Campaign at the premises of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, Edo State Chapter.
The Executive Director said they were creating awareness on the need to give such people a second chance to start a new life, adding that the families of the people must equally prepared to accept them into the community they lived.
They also want such communities to support their rehabilitation, reintegration and engaged them in a productive venture so that they can contribute positively to societal development.
They however said that the reasons people go into custody may be as a result of innocent charge or false accusations, due to minor offences and heinous crime.
The group further said that the reason custody is established is to instilled discipline and correct the inmates in the offences committed. They said after releasing such people that they usually fall back to their second prison of stigmatization and total rejection by their families, friends, community, the society and the government as seen in the area of employment or vying for electoral positions.
The group therefore demand for provision of well managed temporary shelter where released inmates are psychosocially and spiritually restored to normal before joining their families, building of more facilities to separate first offenders from second or previous offenders in their respective cells and abolition of ex-convict stigma in employments and political accreditations.
On his part, Deacon Ralph Okhiria, who spoke on behalf of NUJ said the Union is ready to support anything that would help to stop stigmatization of ex-Inmates and condemned the stigmatization of such people in the society. "We should all join hands to reintergate them into the society".
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