The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Nigeria Correctional Service

  • Fed Govt elevates 30 NCoS senior officers to ACGs

    Fed Govt elevates 30 NCoS senior officers to ACGs

    The Federal Government has approved the promotion of 30 Controllers of Corrections to the rank of Assistant Controllers General (ACG) of Corrections in the Nigeria Correctional Service (NCoS).

    The promotion was carried out through the Civil Defence, Correctional, Fire and Immigration Services Board (CDCFIB) under the Ministry of Interior.

    A statement by NCoS Public Relations Officer, Umar Abubakar, said the promotion was in line with the government’s commitment to merit-based advancement, professional excellence, and the continuous strengthening of leadership within the service.

    The statement said among the newly promoted officers were 27 general duty officers who have demonstrated exceptional dedication, leadership, and operational competence in various formations across the country.

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     It added that three professional officers were also elevated in recognition of their outstanding service and specialised contributions through Medical Laboratory Science, Nursing, and Public Health.

    “This promotion reflects the ongoing reform agenda in the service, in line with the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu under the leadership of the Minister of Interior, Dr. Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, whose unwavering commitment to reposition the service for greater efficiency and professionalism is unprecedented.

    “The Controller General of Corrections (CGC), Sylvester Nwakuche, has congratulated the newly promoted officers and urged them to redouble their effort to service delivery, strategic leadership, and the core mandates of reformation, rehabilitation, and reintegration of inmates,” the statement said.

    It quoted the Controller General as saying that the promotion was not only a reward for past performance but also a call to higher responsibility in line with global best practices in correctional management.

    Abubakar said the service remained committed to building a motivated, disciplined, and professional workforce capable of meeting the complex demands of modern corrections and public safety.

  • Inmates without casefiles

    Inmates without casefiles

    Prisons, now euphemistically designated as custodial centres, ideally should be a place for holding people who have been found in violation of the laws of the land. But Nigerian prisons are a habitat of ‘the good, the bad and the ugly,’ with ‘good’ inmates – ‘good’ because they are not yet found in violation of any law – being in clear and confirmed preponderance over ‘bad’ (i.e. convicted) ones.

    It was only last December that Nigeria Correctional Service (NCoS) Controller-General Haliru Nababa said there were 81,358 inmates nationwide, out of which 53,362 were awaiting trial – meaning they were yet to be found guilty of any offence. Meanwhile, all inmates are on a daily feed ration of N750 in the 2024 budget that was defended by Nababa before the National Assembly, whereas prison security dogs are on a higher budget of N800 daily feed ration.

    Now we know that the phenomenon of awaiting trial inmates isn’t the worst to be seen about Nigerian custodial centres. There are inmates with nothing to try them for, and yet have been in custody for countless years with all the abusive experiences. That was the discovery made by the Solicitors Scheme Advisory Committee raised by Police Inspector-General Kayode Egbetokun to probe cases of human rights violations of people with criminal and civil matters being held in the centres.

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    The panel in Kano State, headed by State Police Commissioner Muhammad-Hussaini Gumel, recently found that there were some inmates supposedly awaiting trial for many years at Kurmawa Custodial Center, but with a good number having no case diary or any criminal record before they were taken into custody. At a briefing of journalists by the panel as part of its unscheduled visits to custodial centres, police formations and juvenile homes, an official of the Kurmawa facility also said some inmates had no particular courts they could be charged to, and no records of their cases, yet had been in custody for many years. Others, according to him, are abandoned in prison because they couldn’t afford legal representation.

    Reports from that briefing cited an inmate, Ibrahim Dala, saying he was accused of culpable homicide but had not been taken to court since his incarceration in 2009. Another inmate, Yahya Usman, said the last time he was taken to court was in 2017, and the case is yet pending. Gumel, who said the committee’s task was to identify such cases, document them and forward them to relevant authorities for appropriate action, promised that affected inmates would get justice soon.

    The Nigerian justice system is one cesspit of abuses that needs cleaning up, and relevant authorities must spare no effort to urgently do the laundry work.