The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Prison decongestion

  • Buhari vows to reform, decongest Prisons

    Buhari vows to reform, decongest Prisons

    President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday in Kano reaffirmed that prison reforms and decongestion will be pursued with greater vigor by his administration.

    Speaking at a ceremony in Kurmawa Central Prison Kano, at which 500 inmates were either pardoned or set free upon the payment of fines by the State Governor, Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, President Buhari lamented that some of the freed inmates were young and charged prison authorities to make every effort to make better citizens of prisoners.

    President Buhari, in a statement by the Senior Special Assistant on Media and publicity, Garba Shehu, pledged that prisons reforms and decongestion would continue to receive prompt attention from his administration.

    He harped on the need for prisoners to receive proper care, support and rehabilitation to make them better citizens after serving their prisons terms.

    He said “I am pleased with this visit and I have learnt a bit more about the conditions of the prisons and inmates.

    “This building in front of us was built since 1910. Rehabilitation of prisoners and training of inmates is very important to us and we would continue to invest more on this.

    “I asked one of the inmates (released) how old he was and he told me he is only 19 years old.

    “If we have people of 18 and 19 years in the prison, and there is no continuous training, then their lives will be completely destroyed. We will invest more in education and vocational training,’’ he said.

    The 500 inmates granted pardon, including men and women, were drawn from various prisons in Kano state, including Kurmawa prisons, which has 1,398 inmates as opposed to 750, the established capacity.

    Earlier, the President who arrived Kano to a tumultuous welcome by the Government and people of the State at the start of a two-day state visit paid homage to the Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II.

    At the Emir’s place, President Buhari recounted his fond memories of Kano, as a symbol of peace, trade, commerce and industry in Nigeria.

    ‘‘If there is a problem here, the whole country has a problem. I remember the industry and employment people get in Kano.

    ‘‘Before the problem in the North East, I remember the number of articulated vehicles that leave this city to Maiduguri and the Cameroons, and the number of vehicles that come in from Chad and Niger, providing millions of jobs to Nigerians.

    ‘‘A lot of people in Nigeria didn’t realise how much the instability in the North East have cost the people and the industry here ’’ he said.

    President Buhari, therefore, assured all Nigerians that the fight against the degraded Boko Haram will be sustained, in addition to the positive trends in the economy and the fight against corruption.

    ‘‘The three things we said in our campaign on security, economy and fighting corruption, nobody will be able to successfully disabuse the minds of Nigerians on our clear intentions for our country and our people,’’ he said.

  • Prison decongestion: Controller hails group

    Deputy Controller Prisons, Mr. Julius Ezugwu, has praised the Prisoners Rehabilitation and Welfare Action (PRAWA) and its partners for their efforts in decongesting  prisons and reforming the justice sector.

    He spoke in Lagos at an event jointly organised by PRAWA in collaboration with the Prison Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN) and Joy Givers Foundation to honour prison officers.

    Ezugwu recalled that PRAWA was able to secure the release of a person who attempted suicide from prison detention under the Prison Reform Project (PRP) of the Security and Justice Reform Programme (SJRD).

    The project is a collaboration between PRAWA and the Nigerian Prisons Service with the support of the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

    His words: “On access to justice, the programme (PRP) that was inaugurated recently has recorded a lot of success.

    “I have handed over so many inmates to the PRAWA team and they have been able to dispose some of the cases.

    “I had a case of a boy who attempted suicide. I handed his case to the PRAWA team and luckily last Tuesday, he was released by the court.

    “He came to my office with the PRAWA team and some NGOs that have committed to his rehabilitation very happy.”

    He also noted that cases which were supposed to be “no-go areas” such as murder cases had been cracked by the PRAWA team after painstakingly reviewing the proof of evidence.

    “You are bringing down the prison population and I want to enjoin you to continue helping us, as such cases arise daily,” he said.

    He observed that it was through the support of non-governmental organisations such as PRAWA that many inmates find the prisons more comfortable.

    He added that capacity building programmes by the NGOs help to remove the tension felt by some inmates upon release from prison.

    Ezugwu noted that some former inmates have become employers of labour, stating that this has been aided by the skill acquisition programme embarked upon by the Nigerian Prisons Service.

    Other dignitaries at the event were the former Lagos State Controller of Prisons, Mr. Olumide Tinuoye; his successor, Mr. Tunde Ladipo; former Assistant Inspector General of Police, Mr. James Caulcrick as well as PRAWA Founder and Senior Prisons Expert/Lead Advisor, Nigerian Security & Justice Programme of the British Government, Dr. Uju Agomoh who spoke on “Partnership and Synergy in Corrections.”

  • Insecurity: Group urges govs to prioritise prison decongestion

    Insecurity: Group urges govs to prioritise prison decongestion

    •Seeks NHRC’s probe of deaths in police’s custody

    State governors in the country have been urged to prioritise the need to end congestion in the nation’s prisons in view of its negative implications on security, inmates’ rights and national image.
    This request is contained in a letter to the governors, written by a group, Citizens United for the Rehabilitation of Errants (CURE-Nigeria), and addressed to Chairmen of the Governors’ Forums of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) – Rochas Okorpcha (Imo State) and Ayodele Fayose (Ekiti).
    CURE-Nigeria, in the letter signed by its Executive Director, Sylvester Uhaa, noted that almost all the prisons in big cities in the country are currently holding thrice their designated capacities, triggering frequent jail breaks.
    It added that out of the over 69,000 inmates across the country, more than 46 thousand are awaiting trial, making Nigeria the 5th country with the highest pre-trial detention population in Africa, trailing Libya, Benin Republic, DCR, and Central African Republic.
    CURE-Nigeria argued that the congestion in the nation’s prison did not only pose significant health, economic and social consequences for the inmates, their families and the states, it also constitutes a serious security threat to the host communities.
    The group, while contending that states could no longer afford to abandon issues relating to justice and prison reforms to the Federal Government alone, asked all the governors to urgently initiate justice and prison reforms programs and invest in prisoner rehabilitation and reintegration in their states.
    Part of the letter reads: “the continued detention of suspects without trial for many years, clearly represents the cruellest and most brutal means of human rights abuse and the abuse of power by those entrusted with power to protect human rights and dignity.
    “Prolonged pre-trial detention is a colossal waste of human potential that comes at a considerable cost to your respective states, taxpayers, families, and communities, as some of those who have been detained unjustly would have engaged in one form of economic activity or the other, contributing to economic growth of your states and that of the nation
    “Consequently, CURE-Nigeria asks your Excellencies to demand that all those who are charged with the responsibility of ensuring justice delivery in your respective states to do their job.
    “In particular, we request your Excellencies to ask the Attorney-General and Commissioners of Justice in your respective states to work with the House of Assembly to domesticate the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015.
    “We also ask your Excellencies to liaise with the Chief Judge of your states to pay frequent visits to prisons to review cases of those awaiting trial and make recommendations for speedy trial of cases unduly delayed, and free those who are unjustly detained for periods exceeding the allowable time.
    “We also request Your Excellencies to provide logistics and other forms of support to the prisons in your states to enable them perform their constitutional obligations optimally,” it said.
    The group urged the governors to fund legal aid for the poor; support prisoner education and other rehabilitation and reintegration programs in the prisons, “as this will impact heavily on your efforts to fight crime, spur economic and social development and achieve peace.”
    CURE-Nigeria, in a separate letter dated February 28, 2017, urged the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) to urgently investigate the reported death in the custody of the Nigeria Police Force, two Nigerians – Ifedolapo Atansuyi and one Tope – arrested by policemen in Lagos.
    Media reports had it that while 20-year-old Ifedolapo, a gospel musician, died on February 25, 2017 at the Oko Awo Police Post, Tope, who was suffering from ulcer, died on February 27 at Lion Building (both in Lagos).
    Part of the letter reads: “It is our hope that the Commission, in its usual character, will take immediate steps to establish the authenticity or otherwise of this report and will conduct thorough and transparent investigations into the remote and immediate causes of the alleged deaths if the reports are true.
    “We equally hope the NHRC will hold anyone found responsible for the deaths to account, award commensurate compensations to the victims’ families and put in place mechanisms to prevent the reoccurrence of such ugly incidence.
    “Also, we want to use this medium to remind the Commission that Nigerians are still waiting for the outcome of its investigation into the alleged killing of six inmates in Abakiliki Prison last August.”

  • Insecurity: Group urges governors to prioritise prison decongestion

    Insecurity: Group urges governors to prioritise prison decongestion

    …Seeks NHRC’s probe of deaths in police’s custody

     

    State governors in the country have been urged to prioritise the need to end congestion in the nation’s prisons in view of its negative implications on security, inmates’ rights and national image.

    This request is contained in a letter to the governors, written by a group, Citizens United for the Rehabilitation of Errants (CURE-Nigeria), and addressed to Chairmen of the Governors’ Forums of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and People’s Democratic Party (PDP) – Rochas Okorpcha (Imo State) and Ayodele Fayose (Ekiti).

    CURE-Nigeria, in the letter signed by its Executive Director, Sylvester Uhaa, noted that almost all the prisons in big cities in the country are currently holding thrice their designated capacities, triggering frequent jail breaks.

    It added that out of the over 69,000 inmates across the country, more than 46 thousand are awaiting trial, making Nigeria the 5th country with the highest pre-trial detention population in Africa, trailing Libya, Benin Republic, DCR, and Central African Republic.

    CURE-Nigeria argued that the congestion in the nation’s prison did not only pose significant health, economic and social consequences for the inmates, their families and the states, it also constitutes a serious security threat to the host communities.

    The group, while contending that states could no longer afford to abandon issues relating to justice and prison reforms to the Federal Government alone, asked all the governors to urgently initiate justice and prison reforms programs and invests in prisoner rehabilitation and reintegration in their states.

    Part of the letter reads: “the continued detention of suspects without trial for many years, clearly represents the cruellest and most brutal means of human rights abuse and the abuse of power by those entrusted with power to protect human rights and dignity.

    “Prolonged pre-trial detention is a colossal waste of human potential that comes at a considerable cost to your respective states, taxpayers, families, and communities, as some of those who have been detained unjustly would have engaged in one form of economic activity or the other, contributing to economic growth of your states and that of the nation

    “Consequently, CURE-Nigeria asks your Excellencies to demand that all those who are charged with the responsibility of ensuring justice delivery in your respective states to do their job.

    “In particular, we request your Excellencies to ask the Attorney-General and Commissioners of Justice in your respective states to work with the House of Assembly to domesticate the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015.

    “We also ask your Excellencies to liaise with the Chief Judge of your states to pay frequent visits to prisons to review cases of those awaiting trial and make recommendations for speedy trial of cases unduly delayed, and free those who are unjustly detained for periods exceeding the allowable time.

    “We also request Your Excellencies to provide logistics and other forms of support to the prisons in your states to enable them perform their constitutional obligations optimally,” it said.

    The group urged the governors to fund legal aid for the poor; support prisoner education and other rehabilitation and reintegration programs in the prisons, “as this will impact heavily on your efforts to fight crime, spur economic and social development and achieve peace.”

    CURE-Nigeria, in a separate letter dated February 28, 2017, urged the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) to urgently investigate the reported death in the custody of the Nigeria Police Force, two Nigerians – Ifedolapo Atansuyi and one Tope – arrested by policemen in Lagos.

    Media reports had it that while 20-year-old Ifedolapo, a gospel musician, died on February 25, 2017 at the Oko Awo Police Post, Tope, who was suffering from ulcer, died on February 27 at Lion Building (both in Lagos).

    Part of the letter reads: “It is our hope that the Commission, in its usual character, will take immediate steps to establish the authenticity or otherwise of this report and will conduct thorough and transparent investigations into the remote and immediate causes of the alleged deaths if the reports are true.

    “We equally hope the NHRC will hold anyone found responsible for the deaths to account, award commensurate compensations to the victims’ families and put in place mechanisms to prevent the reoccurrence of such ugly incidence.

    “Also, we want to use this medium to remind the Commission that Nigerians are still waiting for the outcome of its investigation into the alleged killing of six inmates in Abakiliki Prison last August.”

  • Lagos CJ frees 153 prison inmates

    Lagos CJ frees 153 prison inmates

    The Chief Judge of Lagos State, Justice Olufunmilayo Atilade Wednesday granted freedom to 153 awaiting trial inmates of the Kirikiri Maximum and Medium prisons.

    The inmates who have been awaiting trial for three years and above were released under the prerogative of power vested on her pursuant to provision of section 1(1) of the Criminal Justice Release from Custody Special Provision Act Cap C40, 2007 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria‎.

    While 24 of the inmates were released from the Maximum prison, 129 were released from the medium prison.

    Among the 129 inmates released from the Medium prison, 79 were standing trial for capital offences while 50 were standing trial for minor offences.

    Three of the inmates released from the Medium prison have been awaiting trial for over 16 years.

    Justice Atilade in her remark said the amnesty extended to the released inmates was part of her statutory duty to continuously ensure that the prisons are decongested.

    She urged the beneficiaries of her amnesty exercise to reciprocate the gesture by ensuring that they do not engage in any activity that would return back to crime.

    The Chief Judge also enjoined all relevant stakeholders in the justice sector to join the prison decongestion effort by taking up pro bono service for those who cannot pay for lawyers.

    Justice Atilade was accompanied on the visit by senior judges from the state judiciary, officials of the Lagos Ministry of Justice, members of the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, various Non Governmental Organisation and representatives of the Nigerian Police.

    In his remark, the Deputy Comptroller in charge of Kirikiri Maximum Prison, Seye Oduntan thanked the CJ for the amnesty gesture.

    He pleaded with the CJ to ensure that the programme is a continuous one as more inmates who qualify for the exercise still abound in the prison.

    The Lagos State Controller of Prisons, Timothy Tinuoye pleaded with Justice Atilade to use her office to prevail on the authority concerned to do something about 171 condemned prisoners awaiting execution in the Maximum security prison.

    Recalling the condemnation that followed the decision of the Edo state government approving execution of some condemned criminals a few years ago, Tinuoye lamented that every governor have since then refused to sign the warrant for the execution of the condemned criminals.

    He pleaded that if governments are not ready to execute them, the authority concerned should move them out of Lagos in order to decongest the Prison.

    The Kirikiri Maximum Prison built with a capacity for 1,056 presently has 1235 inmates. While 772 of the inmates are awaiting trial, 83 are serving life sentence, 209 have been convicted while 171 are condemned prisoners.

    At the Medium prison which has a 1700 cell capacity, 2853 inmates are currently at the prison. Out of this, 2,726 are awaiting trial, 128 have been convicted, 25 are lodgers, 19 are detainees while only one inmate is condemned.