A butcher in Adamawa State, Umaru Usman of Shelleng Local Government Area, who was jailed for 17 years over a N150,000 debt, has regained his freedom.

The butcher, sentenced to 17 years imprisonment by the Shelleng Area Court, was serving the term in Numan when a special court, assembled to decongest correctional centres by reviewing questionable cases, visited the facility.

The Shelleng court had sent the convict to Numan Correctional Centre for the offence of criminal breach of trust and cheating.

He was freed by the Adamawa State Jail Delivery Committee, headed by the state Chief Judge, Justice Hapsat Abdulrahman, when the committee visited Numan Custodial Centre as part of its ongoing prison tour.

He is, however, under an order by the committee to pay the outstanding N150,000 to his creditor.

During his appearance before the committee, Umaru Usman confessed that he had obtained rams for his business with a promise to pay the owner after the business.

He added that he was unable to pay the full amount afterwards but made a partial payment, leaving an outstanding balance of N150,000.