A long perilous legal battle finally came to a joyful end on Monday, 19th October, 2020 as Miss Favour Emmanuel, now a former inmate at the Aba Correctional Facility, was finally reunited with her family after the magistrate signed her release papers following the intervention from Mercy Wave Foundation through her CEO, Princess Dr. Mercy Uwakwe, to pay all fines imposed on her and clear the way for her release.  

This case of a sorrowful tale turned to a joyful ending sums up perfectly the visions of the Mercy Wave Foundation in being a hope and voice for the underserved in society. 

Speaking to the crew of the Mercy Wave TV following her release, a highly emotional Miss Favour narrated her heartbreaking ordeal which started over two years ago. She explained how years of struggle and hardship forced her into the unfortunate crime she committed. 

According to her, she could hardly complete her secondary education due to lack of resources and had to, at a tender age, resort to menial jobs to keep her family functional.  Things however took a bad turn when two years ago, for a family already struggling, they received the news of her father's diagnosis and accompanying hospital bill eclipsing Five Hundred Thousand Naira. 

Poor Favour's financial power and savings could definitely not cater for this huge expense, and the thought of losing her father made her take drastic steps which would later lead to a prison sentence. 


As a cashier working for a firm, and being privy to the account details of the company, she decided to take the hospital bill from her firm's account. This apparent action of self sacrifice and a bid to help her ailing was the start of her long legal troubles.  According to her, she eventually narrated the story to her boss innocently, informing him that she would work without salary to offset the bills until every penny was repaid. 

However, things took a drastic turn as her boss demanded an instant refund which Miss Favour could not provide and he had her locked away until she could pay up the loan. 

Narrating her ordeal in the correctional center, Miss Favour Emmanuel pointed out that from the first day, it was untold hardship as her health condition was not considered by the authorities. She witnessed severe episodes of anaemia where her fellow inmates concluded she wouldn't make it thorough the night, but somehow grace preserved her and she kept on knowing that someday her story would change for the better.  

She encouraged every every Nigerian to always stay on the good side of the law to avoid any confrontation that might lead to prison.  

When asked about her plans for the future, Miss Favour promised to leverage on the freedom granted her by the foundation,  to lead a dutiful life.  The foundation also promised to assist her in various ways. 

In a separate interview, the mother of the benefactor, Mrs Joy Emmanuel, also narrated,  amid tears, their story from outside the prison perspective. According to her, at the onset of the situation, she contacted a lot of Foundations and NGOs all to no avail. She also recounted how upon his discharge from the hospital, Mr Emmanuel, Favour's dad, kept on visiting Favour every single day until Favour had to ban him from visiting because of the damage the stress was causing to his already problematic health.  Mrs Joy further expressed her profound gratitude to the foundation for coming to their aid when all hope seemed to have been lost and it was only a matter of time, she felt, before Favour dies in prison due to her health conditions being a sickler.  

The Mercy Wave Foundation pointed out explicitly that they do not promote or support crime in any form.  They called on youths to take advantage and participate in various enlightenment programs aimed at educating them on the dangers of crime. They also provide empowerment schemes to help keep youths engage and self sufficient while avoiding issues of crime.
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