The Tedious Job Of Decongesting Nigerian Correctional Centres.

Though commendable, the federal government policy and provisions that contain the change of inmates’ abode from prison yards to correctional centres lack infrastructural backing.

The immediate past minister of the Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, raised the alarm over the number of condemned inmates accommodated in the facilities.

Though he made efforts to decongest and improve the welfare of inmates, he felt uncomfortable with the refusal of governors to sign the death warrants for the execution of condemned inmates, thereby increasing congestion.

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Besides, the investigation revealed that sixty per cent of people in custody of correctional centres across the country are either awaiting trial or under prosecution.

Recently in Osun State, in his bid to decongest the correctional facilities in the state, Governor Ademola Adeleke directed the state attorney general and commissioner for Justice, Honourable Jimi Bada, to visit the correctional centres and develop recommendations.

The Tedious Job Of Decongesting Nigerian Correctional Centres- Legal Attorney Blog.

Accompanied by the solicitor general and permanent secretary, Ministry of Justice, Mrs Adekemi Bello and other management staff of the ministry, Bada was received at Ilesa correctional centre by the controller of the State Correctional Service, Mr Tolu Ogunsakin.

After guiding them around the facility, Ogunsakin presented the record of the inmates in the Ilesa facility to the attorney general and his team.

Ogunsakin noted that Ilesa correctional centre is currently overcrowded, saying that the facility has the capacity of 586 inmates but is presently accommodating 766 inmates.

Also, at Ile-Ife, Correctional Centre, the Comptroller, DCP Olorunfemi Obembe, disclosed that the facility building capacity is 160 inmates but currently has 346 inmates. Meanwhile, just 44 inmates were convicted, while 302 are awaiting trial.

The attorney general expressed worry that the prisons had remained congested owing to a vast number of inmates that are awaiting trial.

While appreciating the team, Ogunsakin called on other public office holders and philanthropists to emulate the good gesture of the Commissioner for Justice, who paid off a fine of one hundred and fifty thousand Naira (#150,000) levelled against one underaged inmate.

He also urged the public to adopt the plea bargain option, saying it is a modern way to decongest the prison.

But, a human rights crusader in Osun, Comrade Waheed Lawal, noted that Nigerian correctional centres don’t have the facilities to serve correction purposes.

He argued that inmates not living in a conducive environment cannot function optimally under correction, adding that unless facilities that can give room to modifications are provided, it is better to revert to prison that appears appropriate now, considering the facilities on the ground.

Also speaking, a cleric, Pastor Lawrence Agbesanya, observed that the government is not taking cognisance of the population explosion in the country, saying that the same provision made for inmates years back when the population was not as huge as it is still being maintained.

He recommended building more facilities to accommodate more significant numbers of people, just as he noted that if more institutions of learning are being established to accommodate students seeking admission to schools, nothing stops the government from establishing more correctional centres.

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