The federal government has said that at least 12 of the 246 custodial centres in Nigeria are undergoing rehabilitation.
The Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, who disclosed this last night on Channels Television, said many of the custodial centres were built 100 years ago and were old.
“Mr President did not become president 100 years ago. We have 246 correctional centres, and none were established under this administration.
“The one in Ikoyi was established, I think, in 1956. The one where we had the jail break in Suleja, I think, was established in 1914, and there are so many correctional centres that are 100 years old.
“I can tell you that about 12 correctional centres are undergoing rehabilitation,” the minister said.
He explained that some of the centres did not have medical doctors until President Bola Tinubu approved the employment of doctors for the facilities.
“Look at what this government has been able to do in the last two years with regards to even Port Harcourt prison, which was in a bad state, what the president has been able to do in Kuje, where some weeks ago, major surgeries were held.
“That is beyond the infrastructure. When this government came on board, we had a scenario whereby in some state commands, we didn’t have a single doctor for the correctional centre.
“But the president came, approved the employment of 50 doctors, 100 nurses, and also approved that NYSC doctors should also be posted to correctional centres,” Tunji-Ojo explained.
On what the government was doing to fortify the custodial centres, the minister said, “A lot is going on. There is a lot I wouldn’t want to talk about. As I said, we have 246 correctional centres.
“You cannot expect Mr. President to fix 246 locations — in each location, you can have about 10 structures — within two years. So, what we are doing is we are collaborating.
“Yes, we are not where we want to be, but we are not where we were. And how have we been able to do this? Of course, I have to say a big thank you to the other security agencies.
“So, there is a lot of intelligence work that goes into a lot of these things, but I don’t want to go into details.”
