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President pardons 15 ex-prisoners

    ABIDJAN
    Nigeria's National Council of State approved on Thursday unconditional presidential pardons for 15 former prisoners, news organisations reported. They include the former speaker of the House of Representatives, Salisu Buhari, journalists, two prominent human rights activists and a reformed bank robber, AFP reported. The pardon restores the civil rights of the former prisoners, who had already been released. The best know human rights activist among them, Beko Ransome-Kuti, dismissed the gesture as an insult. "I had not done anything to warrant being convicted in the first place so the case of a presidential pardon does not arise at all," he told AFP. All but Buhari had been granted a conditional pardon by the last outgoing military administration, PANA reported. The council which approved Olusegun Obasanjo's motion comprises the president, the nation's 36 state governors and former heads of state.

    This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

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