•Interior minister, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo
The federal government have hinted of plans to reduce the number of custodial facilities in the country, declaring that Nigeria does not need the current figure of 256.
Noting that some facilities are only utilising about 30 to 40 percent of their carrying capacities, the government said there is need to identify inmates with federal offences with a view to redistributing across the custodial facilities since virtually every state has a Federal High Court, reports Vanguard.
Minister of Interior, Dr Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, disclosed this on Tuesday in Abuja at the “Public Hearing on Alleged Corruption and other Violations against the Nigerian Correctional Service”, organised by the Independent Investigative Panel on the Alleged Corruption, Abuse of Power, Torture, Cruel, Inhumane and Degrading Treatment against the Nigerian Correctional Service.
The minister again warned against the inhumane treatment of inmates across the nation’s custodial facilities, saying such will not be tolerated in 2025.
No need for 256 Custodial Centres
Addressing the committee and other stakeholders, the minister said, “How many correctional centers do we even need? It is part of what you should cover in Nigeria.
“Realistically speaking, do we need 256 correctional centres that we have? The answer is no because the more correctional centers, the more pressure and stress in terms of supervision and control. And when there is problem of supervision and control, abuse becomes inevitable.
“So, in so many climes today, you have 3,000 capacity correctional centres. How many do we actually need? We need to look at that.
“Number three is, even with what we have today, there are some correctional centers that are densely populated or overcrowded, let me say that.
“And there are some that are not too populated. If there are criminals, if they are federal offences, there is federal jurisdiction. If I am not wrong, federal jurisdiction is everywhere, federal high court.
“So, can we critically look and analyse every correctional centre and look at those (inmates) who have committed federal offences and move them to less populated areas? Because it will shock you that there are correctional centres with about 30%, 40% occupation rate and there are some with about 200%. So how do we look at it? We think those are short-term gains that we can do like now and be able to reduce the space,” he stated.
Noting that this is 2025 and not 1825, the minister said the time has come to also conduct psychological evaluation of personnel of the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS).
He said no government will ever be judged by how it treats the strongest, but by how the weakest are handled.
“That is the key. It is the way you handle the weakest in the society that determines the efficiency of the government.
“For us, as a government, under the leadership of Mr President, we have decided not to toe the path of business as usual, but we have decided to make it business unusual.
“The era when a man goes into a custodial centre and all that happens is incarceration and condemnation should be gone. This is 2025. This is not 1825.
“We must treat people with respect regardless of where they are. That a man is in a correctional centre doesn’t make him less human.
“A lot of these reforms, beyond infrastructural reforms, beyond strategic reforms, have to also happen within the context of our correctional offices. The core responsibility of a correctional officer is to be an agent of rehabilitation, restoration, reformation and correction and never to be an agent of condemnation.
“That a man loses his freedom by virtue of being an inmate does not mean he should lose his dignity as a human being. It is your responsibility to protect the dignity of even the least in our society.
“When condemnation takes the place of correction, then the system must have failed. There is a huge responsibility for this committee. Responsibility number one is for you to look inwards and cure yourself of the disease or else it becomes contagious. Our correctional officers, their psyche, it is important. I think a lot of them really need psychological evaluation, without being disrespectful. Because a man who will handle a man that is already feeling deprived should be psychologically sound, and I mean that without an apology. There are people, even if the wives do not give them breakfast, they will go and use it to attack others. It’s the truth. If they sleep and if they go to bed unable to find sleep, the next person is the helpless person that the system and the institution is supposed to protect becomes the target. When the vulnerable, when the subject of protection becomes a target, then there is a problem, and that is where we are,” he said.
