A female Prisons staff attached to Kirikiri female prisons, Lagos has been dismissed from the service for smuggling alcoholic drinks into the prison yard.
The dismissal letter, signed on behalf of the Controller-General of Prisons by the Officer-in-Charge of Discipline, DCP Agun Olatunji, stated that the staff was found guilty of negative activities, which borders on trafficking, an act that contravenes the enabling provisions of Sections 14 (i) (a) and Section 82 (n) of Prisons Act Cap P.29 LFN 2004 and punishable under Sections 14 (i) (g) and Section 83 of same Act.
Trafficking, in prisons parlance, is the act of smuggling prohibited item(s) or unauthorized information into or out of the prison yard.
The offence is usually viewed seriously because of its potential threat to security.
Cases of inmates making illegal phone calls from their cells, organising jail breaks, having access to weapons, escapes, etc are all traced to trafficking, sometimes perpetrated by staff and this has often been a source of embarrassment not only to the Service but the nation at large.
Such compromising acts, no doubt, a statement by the Service on Tuesday said, do not augur well for the security of a custodial institution like the Prisons Service and also put the lives of innocent staff and inmates in serious danger.
The statement added: “The arrest of the wardress is certainly an indication of the dawn of a new era in prison management in Nigeria and a justification of the recent mass re-deployment of officers and men nationwide to strengthen security.”
It should be recalled that the Controller General of Prisons, Ja’afaru Ahmed, in his maiden address to officers and men of the Nigerian Prisons Service decried the appalling state of discipline in the system, which, more often than not, drags the reputation of the Prisons Service to public ridicule.
Ahmed, therefore, vowed to restore discipline in the Service as a convenient entry point towards making the prisons a secured and true reformation centre, warning that those that lack the moral strength to impact positive values on offenders in custody would have no business being prisons officers.
The dismissed staff is to hand over all government properties, including her uniform and Service Identification Card, to the authority before leaving.
Trending
- Sanwo-Olu: We’ve fulfilled our promises
- Upholding Democracy: The imperative of credible party primaries in Nigeria, by Adebanji Dada
- FG revokes 924 dormant mining licences as minister decries racketeering
- Why I didn’t build schools as Anambra governor, Peter Obi replies Omokri
- Establish base in Sambisa forest, Zulum tells Army
- EFCC withdraws appeal against former Kogi Governor Bello
- Fidelity Bank commends Air Peace’s performance
- How AI, automation, and trusted data are shaping next-generation customer service, by Linda Saunders