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Tag: prisons

  • Fed govt plans relocation of Keffi, other prisons

    Fed govt plans relocation of Keffi, other prisons

    The federal government said on Tuesday, June 25, that the Keffi Medium Security Custodial Centre would be among those to be relocated out of the 256 Custodial Centres in the country.

    The government noted that the centre which was built in 1820 was one of the many centres caught up by urbanisation.

    The minister of interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, dropped the hint in Keffi during an inspection of the facility which has undergone rehabilitation, including the construction of a new perimeter fence.

    He also inspected the 3,000-capacity Karshi Custodial Centre in Abuja, saying the government would do everything necessary to ensure maximum security within the Custodial Centres. 

    A total of 750 inmates were being held in the Keffi custodial centre, which has a capacity for 340 inmates. Of the 750 inmates, 605 of them were awaiting trial.

    Tunji Ojo said: “Our correctional centres, as we said, have changed from prisons to the Correctional Service. And obviously, it means that there has to be a paradigm shift in ideology, from a place of incarceration to a place of transformation, a place of reformation, and a place of correction.

    “We were earlier at Karshi to look at the work that is going on there with regard to the 3000 capacity. Of course, we have one or two observations, which, of course, I would not like to share in front of the camera.

    “When we get back to the office, then we’ll sit down as the ministry and the NCoS come together to brainstorm on solutions to some of the issues that were raised.

    Read Also: FG begins audit of 256 prisons facilities, laments conditions

    “Here in Keffi, the custodial centres are highly populated, and the number of inmates is quite high. We have in Keffi alone the two correctional centres, Keffi new and Keffi old; we have over 1000 plus. That is a huge number—almost 1500.

    “We came to look at it, and of course, you know a lot of inmates from FCT get here. We have come to look, and we saw the perimeter fencing because, as we have always said, we do not want to repeat what happened in Suja.

    “We are really investing in perimeter fencing in institutions. You can see, just this year, that perimeter fencing before was just the barbwire, which is transparent for everybody to see inside. The concrete fencing is now complete.

    “In Keffi old, I was told now that it was a correctional centre that was established in 1820. So, you know, how old are we? We are talking about over 200 years. The walls were weak, but today you can see our concrete walls have been fully erected.

    “We are not just limiting it to here. We have done our infrastructure audit, and our government is doing everything possible to make sure that the force majeure that happened in Suleja does not happen anywhere.

    “But I have to say this: we have 256 correctional centres, and these 256 correctional centres have been here for more than 100 years. When I speak of 1820, you know, this is 2024, which tells you that this correctional centre is arguably over 200 years old. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu did not become president 200 years ago.

    “Obviously, we are taking each one at a time, and we are making progress, and we’re happy with the progress that we’ve been able to make.

    “You can see what I mean by urbanisation; you can see civilian houses sharing fences with the Correctional Centre here in Keffi. It means that this is not sustainable.

    “We have to think about relocation because of the effects of urbanisation. Perhaps we will be putting everything in motion to upgrade the facility and to build more facilities in the Keffi New to be able to relocate the Keffi old to the Keffi New,” he stated.

  • FG begins audit of 256 prisons facilities, laments conditions

    FG begins audit of 256 prisons facilities, laments conditions

    The Federal Government said it has started auditing the 256 prisons facilities across the country, lamenting that some of them are aged between 60 to 100 years. 

    The Minister of Interior, Dr Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo who disclosed this, said rehabilitation works have started in some of the facilities to make them more habitable and meet global standards. 

    Tunji-Ojo made the remarks shortly after he visited the Janguza Correctional facility in Kano and the Kuje Medium Custodial Centre, Abuja where rehabilitation works have reached advance stage. 

    The Minister toured the facilities with the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry, Dr Aishetu Ndayako and the Comptroller-General of Nigeria Correctional Service, NCoS,  Haliru Nababa. 

    The Minister noted that the ongoing reforms of the Correctional Service were aimed at decongestion of prisons, improved welfare of inmates and personnel of NCoS and ensuring that the Correctional facilities indeed live up to their names. 

    He said the NCoS has provided atmosphere for self development in a way that inmates now pursue educational careers upto PhD levels,  while a particular inmate who acquired Masters degree had written three books to his credit. 

    Tunji-Ojo said:” We are in Kano to see the 3,000-capacity Maximum Security Custodial Centre, which of course, is work in progress. It is about the intervention of the Administration in terms of our Custodial Centres and I can tell you that work is still going on. We are not where we want to be obviously. So, it is work in progress basically.

    “And here in Kuje, this is just one of the many Custodial Centres that we are renovating at the moment and as you can see, all the perimeter fencing have been concluded. They are all concrete. 

    “All the security infrastructure, which I cannot disclose in public, have been out in place and even when you talk about the welfare, the cells have all been renovated, there are more facilities and the ambience is good. You can see it yourself that this is not the Kuje facility that you used to know.

    “Obviously, Renewed Hope is on course. President Bola Tinubu is working on our Custodial Centres and not to forget, a young man, one of the inmates today gifted me about three books authored by him. 

    Read Also: Suleja Prisons built over 100 years ago with mud, says Senate

    “He has been here for like 12 years and today he has finished his first degree through the National Open University of Nigeria NOUN, he has finished his Masters Degree and is about enrolling for his PhD. That is the positive story about Nigeria that I want people to see. 

    “These shows that our Custodial Centres are no longer ‘Prisons’. They are now correctional. They are transformational. They are reformatory institutions and Nigerians can know that the Renewed Hope Agenda is not just about the strongest in the society. It is about both the strongest and the weakest in our society.

    “Work is ongoing on the Suleja Custodial Centre and of course and a manhunt is still on to recapture the few remaining feeling inmates. Work is ongoing, including the new centre we are building there beside the old structures. 

    “It is not just about Suleja, which is just one out of the 256 Custodial Centres that we have and this Administration inherited 256 centres that needed rehabilitation and you can see what we have done here and in so many of our centres. We are intervening and also building bigger capacity, more modern centres.

    “The Correctional Service is one that needs intervention and the government is doing everything because we know we have to put in all the efforts to make sure that we are able to offer solutions to most of these problems.

    “Do not forget that a lot of these centres were built under the Colonial era. Some of these facilities are 60 to over 100 years old. So, President Tinubu did not become president a hundred years ago but he understands that he is president and he is intervening so that he won’t hand over a defective system to the next generation 

     “The good thing for me is that we did facility audit earlier and we can see that the result of the facility audit is how we are intervening. So, we are very empirical and scientific in our approaches. We don’t just throw solutions to problems that are unknown. We discover the problems, we know the root cause of issues , then we find solutions to them. 

    “So, the audit system is being empirical. It is scientific and that will lead massively to the decongestion of our Custodial Centres.

    ” It is not just saying you want to decongest. It is about you knowing the status. Life is all about data. Data is the new oil. Data is the blood of life in this millennium. The audit is going on and by the time we are done with the audit, you will see level of decongestion that we will have as a result of the audit.”

  • Nigeria’s crumbling prisons

    Nigeria’s crumbling prisons

    • By Ike Willie-Nwobu

    Sir: A tour through Nigerian prison shows where the country is in its dream of being a decent and dignified society.

    Dilapidated buildings, squalid conditions, overcrowding, non-existent hygiene, and everything else that can make one regret the day of their birth. When the nightmarish conditions of Nigerian prisons are factored into the fact that its extremely porous justice system ensures that many people go in for crimes they did not commit, the problem becomes a national emergency, a disaster waiting to happen. Disaster did happen on April 24 when the Suleja Correctional Facility collapsed under a rush of riotous rainfall, setting about 118 prisoners suddenly free, churning out an answer to their prayers in the process.

    For those looking out from prisons and those looking in from the outside, nothing has changed in the conditions of prisons and prisoners save for a name change- a correction that is anything but correctional, rather meant to castrate the fury of campaigners. Dignity does not condone half measures. Historically, anytime human dignity has been constrained to drops like bracken water from rusty old pipes, it has often died.

    Justice is necessarily the foundation on which any durable democracy must be built. However, for those who have to go to prison because justice dictates that they should, it does not have to be a death sentence in the literal sense of the phrase or the end to their dreams and humanity. The conditions in the prisons do not have to be such as to shock already weary prisoners into despair.

     One of man’s greatest attributes is the ability to surprise. The reason the human story is often brimming with warmth and wonder is that people have always shown that they can change. This has typically justified giving people a second chance, an opportunity to pick up the pieces, even if they hardly deserve the same. Prisons should be places where people are not only supported to reform and rehabilitate their lives but are encouraged to pick up the pieces, no matter how badly broken.

    Read Also: FG to establish 24 skills, innovation hubs, entrepreneurship centres – Tinubu

    This means that the buildings and basics have to change. Like many other things in Nigeria, the prisons have suffered from the malaise of a poor maintenance culture. Many of the buildings are in poor and desperate conditions. Like the electricity infrastructure that crumble and call on darkness under the barest whiff of pressure from nature, many of the prisons are just waiting for the slightest pressure to crumble. Now that the rains are coming, the Nigerian authorities may want to look into the durability of the physical structures of the prisons.

    Then, it also bears asking: what usually becomes of those who go to prison in Nigeria? Do they become better or worse behind bars?

    Crime can be a bit cyclical in that once it works itself into a vicious cycle, as it so often does, it is almost impossible to curtail. Prisons where conditions are historically poor have been known to provide fertile breeding grounds for crime and the vices that become crime, ensuring that no one really changes for the better then.

    The less said about a country that cannot even properly contain and change its criminals the better, but the danger posed by prisoners let loose by the elemental forces of nature should be enough to jolt a slumbering country awake.

    •Ike Willie-Nwobu,

    Ikewilly9@gmail.com

  • Prisons: Beyond the name change

    SIR: Wednesday August 19, President Muhammadu Buhari signed a bill changing the name of Nigeria Prisons Service to the Nigeria Correctional Service, into law. The development is significant as it that it borders on a salient aspect of social existence and intercourse: crime.

    Crime, as argued by many scholars, is an inevitable reality in society. There is no crime-free society. What is obtainable is that the rate of crime incidence could vary from one society to another. The correctional facilities play a vital role in determining this variance. Correction occupies an important place in crime discourses, specifically crime prevention and control.

    The prison is an aspect of correction. Correction is broader in that it goes beyond ostracizing the offender only as in the case of prison, it also sees to his rehabilitation, restitution and resocialization. Therefore, the move to change the Nigeria Prisons Service to the Nigeria Correctional Service is indeed a commendable one; especially as it is against the background that there are many things wrong with the Nigeria Prisons Service.

    I dare say that the name change alone is not enough, there are more to do if truly rehabilitation and not punishment is the watchword here. Modern correctional facilities are fast leaving Nigeria’s behind given that no substantial restructuring has been accorded to it. This explains why the rate of criminal activities is high in Nigeria. In saner climes, prisons are for reformatory activities. But in Nigeria, prisons harden inmates the more.

    The Nigeria Prisons Service has failed the Nigerian society in its entirety. This is evident in the level of recidivism that stares most Nigerian prisons in the face. The chance that ex-inmates would be re-admitted into the jail is very high. The Nigerian prison system breeds criminal tendencies in an individual-offender. A petty criminal may come out of the system to become a die-hard criminal.

    The modus operandi in Nigerian prisons does not support the rehabilitation of offenders. Not with petty criminals put together with die-hard criminals paving the way for the further mal-socialization and criminalization of the former. Living conditions in Nigerian prisons are very harsh with overcrowding the order of the day. Till this day, there are still insinuations that in Nigerian prisons a new inmate is given the beating of his life to serve as a ‘welcome party’. So, how does an offender come out of this shambolic system re-socialized?

    It is re-assuring that the presidency has deemed it fit to right many of the wrongs that pertain to the Nigerian prisons by assenting to the bill. In the same token, kudos must be given to the eighth assembly for initiating this bill, and to the ninth assembly for not discarding it on political grounds. However, it is not over until it is over. It is hoped that this development will not just be on paper.  Indeed, if the problems of rehabilitation and overcrowding, among others could be addressed in the Nigerian prisons, criminal activities would reduce drastically. Away from the correctional system, other aspects of the criminal justice system such as police investigations and court processes also needs to be addressed to bring about a near crime-free Nigeria.

     

    • Abdullah Abdulganiy,

    University of Ilorin.

  • Prisons service promotes 18 Controllers

    The Civil Defence, Fire, Immigration and Prisons Services Board (CDFIPB) has approved the promotion of 18 Controllers of Prisons to the rank of Assistant Controller-General of Prisons service.

    Mr Francis Enobore, the Public Relations Officer of the service disclosed this in Abuja on Saturday in a statement.

    He said the promotion was in the board’s letter No. CDFIPB/ODES/CORR/VOL.11/21, dated March 27, 2019 in respect to the exercise conducted by the board for eligible officers in 2018.

    “Some of the beneficiaries include ACG Yusuf Oladipo, ACG Kunle Sanusi, ACG Tukur Ahmed, ACG Pevigo Peter and ACG Abubakar Garba.

    “Others are ACG Nwakuche Sylvester, ACG Babangida Mohammed, ACG Opara Joseph, ACG Oladipo Tunde and ACG Chiabua Victor,’’ he said.

    According to him, ACG Haliru Nababa, ACG Musa Danzaria, ACG Akinwale Folashade, ACG Mohammed Hussaini, ACG Okereke Clementina, ACG Bomoi Mohammed, ACG Adebimpe Aderemi and ACG Mohammed Abubakar were also promoted.

    Enobore said that the Controller-General of Prisons, Mr Ja’afaru Ahmed, while congratulating the officers enjoined them to see the elevation as a call to higher responsibility which required greater commitment and professionalism.

  • 2019 elections: ‘Prisons to pay officers allowance soon’

    The Nigerian Prisons Service (NPS) will soon begin the payment of allowance to officers that took part in the just concluded 2019 general elections, it was learnt on Tuesday.

    This was in reaction to recent protest by some officers and men of the service over the alleged non – payment of their allowances for conduct of the elections.

    It would be recalled that some of the NPS officials told a national daily newspaper last week that personnel of other departments in the Ministry of Interior like the Prisons Service were paid their entitlements immediately after the elections.

    NPS spokesman, Francis Enobore who spoke with our correspondent in Abuja over the issue vowed that payment of the said allowance will commence soon.

    Enobore confirmed to The Nation that the delay was occasioned by the additional officers who were asked to join those already on election duty.

    He vowed that as soon as the money is ready payment would commence.

    His words: “there are some others that are asked to be on standby and as the event progress we discovered that other staff that were asked to stand by were pulled to join those ones already on the field.

    Read also: Presidential Committee frees 84 prisoners

    “In fact I have been in a meeting since morning doing final collation of all their name, account numbers and other details so that we can pay them as soon as the money comes.”

    Asked how soon would the payment be, Enobore said: “For now I may not be able to be specific on the time on when the money will be released but I was reliably informed that the money have been approved and any moment from now payment will be paid. I wouldn’t know how much each officer will be receiving until when the money come.”

    He called for calm adding that all issues concerning the welfare of officers and men of the NPS will be addressed.

     

  • Prisons donate to motherless babies’ home

    The Nigerian Prisons Service, Cross River State Command, has donated items for the upkeep of the Uwanse Motherless Babies’ Home in Calabar.

    Items donated included baby food diapers, noodles, toiletries, and beverages among others.

    Controller of Prisons in the state, Mr Imaikop Jimmy Ndaekong, who led officers and men of the Command to donate the items, said the gesture was a token of gratitude to God for making the Command peaceful throughout last year.

    “We did this to thank God for giving us grace to do our job successfully throughout 2018 without any issue. The Command was very peaceful throughout 2018. So instead of us to do a party, we decided to use the little we have to give to this home, who need our care. We decided to celebrate with the children.

    “Government cannot do everything alone, so all hands should be on deck to ensure the proper upbringing of these children. Let us join hands to ensure that they are groomed. Just like what we do in the prisons service where we are trying to shape the adult, who has gone in conflict with the law, bring them back, rehabilitate them and reintegrate them into the society. Nobody knows what these children could be tomorrow,” Ndaekong said.

    Read Also: Officials bust drug gang at Ikoyi Prisons

    He urged those in charge of the children not to relent in their duty of raising them to be good citizens of the society and also called on the children to always respect authority.

    Public Relations Officer of the Command, ASP Effanga Etim, said the gesture was the first of its kind in the Command.

    He said it was a worthwhile development. “It’s a worthwhile exercise in extending our hands of love to the vulnerable ones in our midst, outside prison facility,’ he said.

    The Officer in charge of the Home, Mrs Felicia Oti, thanked the Prisons Service for the gesture and promised to use items judiciously for the upkeep of the children.

  • Prisons congestion: I’m very concerned -Ambode

    Gov. Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos State on Friday expressed concern about the congestion of prisons, with over 70 per cent of inmates in the state awaiting trial

    The governor called for major reforms to decongest prisons across the country.

    Ambode spoke when he received a delegation from the Nigeria Prison Services, Lagos Command, led by the Controller, Mr Tunde Ladipo, at his residence in Epe.

    He said that the State Advisory Council on Prerogative of Mercy would look into some of the cases of inmates and see the possibility of granting official pardon to prisoners who had shown remorse.

    The governor said that inmates of good behaviour and those ready to contribute meaningfully to the society would also be pardoned.

    “I am very concerned about congestion of prisons in Lagos State. However, there is no better time to carry out reforms in our prisons, and it is necessary, especially as regards the decongestion of the prison,” he said.

    Ambode also directed the Special Adviser on Primary Healthcare, Dr Olufemi Onanuga, to provide adequate health services for all the prisons in the state so as to prevent outbreak of diseases.

    Read Also: Ambode donates vehicles, ambulance to Lagos Prison

    The governor also donated vehicles and other equipment to the Lagos Prisons Service, saying it was his administration’s contribution to make the prisons more conducive.

    “For a State like Lagos where development is ongoing, it is bound to attract people from other states and neighbouring countries, and this means increase in population.

    “We are providing these critical assistance to the prison authorities to make them more efficient and make our prisons more conducive,” Ambode said.

    Earlier, the Controller of Prisons, Lagos Command, Mr Tunde Ladipo, said that the visit was to remind the governor of their requests for some vehicles and equipment.

    These, he said, were to enhance their capacity to effectively transport and secure inmates awaiting trial.

    Ladipo said that as at Jan. 31, 8,191 inmates — 7,887 male and 304 female — were in custody across the five prison facilities in the state.

    He said that the prisons include the Maximum Security Prison, Kirikiri; Medium Security Prison, Kirikiri; Female Security Prison, Kirikiri; Ikoyi Prisons and Badagry Prisons.

    Ladipo said that out of the number, 6,290 inmates were awaiting trial and attending the various court jurisdictions in the state.

    “The challenges toward fulfilling the responsibilities of effective prison duties are indeed overwhelming and seriously challenging especially in a state with a large inmate population like Lagos,” he said.

    Ladipo, while commending the governor for his developmental strides as well as massive support to security organisations, said the Lagos Prison Command was working toward reforming prisoners.

    He revealed that two inmates, Kabiru Tunwase and Oladipupo Moshood were currently pursuing PhD in Business Administration and Peace and Conflict Resolution respectively.
     

  • We are improving, decongesting Nigerian prisons, says Assistant Controller

    Assistant Controller General of Prisons in charge of Zone E, Mr Jide Joseph Olorunmola, says there has been remarkable improvement in the Nigeria Prisons Service, and that the present leadership is working hard towards decongestion.

    Olorunmola, who was on a familiarization/inspection tour to the Cross River State Command, and conducted round by the State Controller of Prisons, Imaikop Ndaekong said, said the situation today is much better than it was in the past.

    He said, “When you talk of improvement, you look at the past and look at the current situation and then forecast for the future. The structures were dilapidated. There was shortage of drugs. There was lack of vehicles to convey prisoners to courts. That was the situation before the current administration under the leadership of Controller General of Prisons, Alhaji Ja’afaru Ahmed. Since he came there has been massive reconstruction and renovation of structures and infrastructure being provided. Drugs, duty vehicles, staff cars have also been provided. Those things were not in place before and so there is a big improvement going on.

    Read Also: 195 Nigerians in Moroccan prisons for drug crimes – Envoy

    “Of course when you talk of prison congestion, you can see the efforts of the Federal Government. There is a presidential committee on decongestion that has been going on. In Kano a 3, 000 capacity prison has been put in place and the CGP and Minister have repeated very often that the goal now is to put in place a 3, 000 capacity prison in every geopolitical zone of the country.

    “With all the operational vehicles that have been purchased and distributed all over the prison formations across the country to convey prisoners to court, you will agree with me that is a fine effort aimed at decongesting prisons. Because if inmates do not attend court regularly, if they miss their courts, that may add to our problem of congestion. In the area of drugs, they are regularly being supplied to prisons for inmates use. Even staff welfare has been improved upon and this goes a way to improve the system.”

    Cross River State Controller of Prisons, Imaikop Ndaekong, who conducted him round the Command said the State’s Prisons consists of five convict prisons and one farm centre with 960 inmates population made up of 944 males and 16 females.

    “The present leadership of Nigeria Prisons Service under Controller General of Prisons Jaafaru Ahmed in which you are a management member, has put smiles on the faces of every of Prison Officer and Cross River State Command is conspicuously part of this web of change in the Service.

    “Permit me sir to inform you that the Command had benefitted enormously in the distribution of beddings, operational vehicles, agricultural machineries and implements, drugs, medics and uniform for staff and inmates,” Ndaekong said.

  • A’Ibom jailbreak: 28 inmates still at large–CG

    A’Ibom jailbreak: 28 inmates still at large–CG

    The Controller General of Nigeria Prisons Service (NPS) Mr Jaffaru Ahmed, has disclosed that 28 inmates of Ikot Ekpene Prisons that escaped during jailbreak on Dec. 27, 2017 were still at large.

    Ahmed disclosed this to newsmen after an inspection of facilities in Ikot Ekpene Prisons on Friday.

    The controller general, who described the facilities in Ikot Ekpene Prisons as well fortified, attributed the jailbreak to lapses on the part of prison staff.

    “About 40 inmates found their way out of Ikot Ekpene Prisons in a broad daylight around 11.45 a.m.

    “They took on the lapses that they saw, perhaps they have been planning it for a very long time and actualised it on December 27, 2017 when they saw the opportunity.

    “The 28 that are at large are very hardened criminals; some of them are kidnappers awaiting trials, some are facing capital offences and therefore it is something to worry,” Ahmed said.

    He lamented that those still at large supposed to be in custody to allow the other members of the society to live in peace.

    He assured Akwa Ibom people and the entire nation that the fleeing inmates would soon be recaptured to face their trials.

    He added that any staff found wanting would have to face the full wrath of the law.

    The controller general debunked insinuations from some quarters that the jailbreak was due to infringement on the fundamental rights of the inmates.

    He said, “These prisoners were not rioting because there was maladministration in the prison system, but they organised it in order to get freedom illegally. That is what actually happened.

    “It was not that they were not being fed or given medical attention or not taken to court.

    “Any insinuation anywhere, I state that investigation I have here before me, that there was nothing than they took lapses on the part of staff and organised to escape.”

    Ahmed commended the Akwa Ibom Government for the support given to the Nigeria Prisons Service and appealed for more.

    He thanked other sister security agencies for their cooperation and sought for more to enable the service to recaptured the fleeing inmates, to ensure peace and tranquillity in the state. (NAN)