By Robert Egbe

The Prisoners’ Rights Advocacy Initiative (PRAI) has donated 2,764 masks to children in all correctional centres and inmates and officers of custodial centres in Lagos, to boost their protection against the novel coronavirus pandemic.

The masks comprise 534 for correctional centres and 2,230 for Custodial Centres’ inmates.

The donations, which were made on May 18, 2020, included food items, beverages and toiletries valued at N400,000 for children in the correctional centres.

PRAI Executive Director Ahmed Adetola-Kazeem told The Nation that the palliatives would “lessen the burden of the times on the children and the centres.

“We decided to take it further by providing face masks to all children and staff in the Correctional Centres to further reduce the risk of contacting the deadly COVID-19 virus.”

Read Also: NDDC distributes palliatives

Adetola-Kazeem also noted that the restrictive nature of prison environment made the donations a necessity.

He added: “In view of the outbreak of COVID-19 and the vulnerable nature of the inmates and officers of the Nigeria Correctional Service (NCS), in partnership with Kiki Simone Foundation we decided to provide face masks for inmates and officers (in the frontlines) of Custodial Centres in Lagos. The first set of donations we are making is to the Kirikiri Maximum Custodial Centre and the Kirikiri Female Custodial Centre.

The beneficiary institutions include: Special Correctional Centre for Boys, Oregun Special Correctional Centre for Girls, Idi-Araba, Correctional Centre for Senior Boys, Isheri, Correctional Centre for Girls, Idi-Araba, Correctional Centre for Junior Boys, Yaba, and the Children Centre.

Others are: Kirikiri Maximum Custodial Centre, Kirikiri Female Custodial Centre  and the NCS Lagos Command Alagbon.