The Federal Government has directed the Nigerian Correctional Service to seek synergy with relevant Government Agencies, Non- Governmental Organisations and Civil Society Organisations with a view to de-radicalising Nigerian youths roaming the streets.
Mohammed Manga, Director Press and Public Relations of the Ministry of Interior, made this known in a statement on Friday in Abuja.
He quoted the new Minister of Interior, Alhaji Rauf Aregbesola as giving the directive when he visited the Nigerian Correctional Service in Abuja.
The minister urged the officers of the Service, to support the Federal Government in its efforts to ensure a safe and secured environment for Nigerians.
Aregbesola said that he believed the officers and men of the Nigeria Correctional Service would be at the vanguard of championing the good intention of President Muhammadu Buhari.
He noted that the President had helped in reforming the old law of the Nigeria Prisons Service to the new Nigeria Correctional Service.
The minister said this was in a bid to reduce recidivism (reoffend) among those who were being taken to the correctional centres.
He said: “We will support you to reduce to a large extent, those who are coming under your care from going back to crime.”
The Minister said the rehabilitation and readjustment should be the focus of the Nigeria Correctional Service in the country.
Aregbesola enjoined staffers of the Ministry and all it agencies to ensure compliance to the SET (Security, Economy and Transparency) agenda of the Buharis’ administration, in order to achieve the mandate of the ministry which is security of Nigerians.
The Permanent Secretary in the Ministry, Georgina Ehuriah, described Aregbesola as a committed leader who would never give up, until he achieved results.
She called on all the agencies under the Ministry to support the drive of the Minister to move the Interior Ministry and its agencies to the next level.
The Controller-General, Nigeria Correctional Service, Ja’Afaru Ahmed, disclosed that the Service had over 250 centres across Nigeria with some becoming dilapidated, having been built for over a century.
He commended the Federal Government, under the leadership of President Buhari for giving some of the centres a facelift.
He said: ‘We were neglected for years, but with President Muhammadu Buhari, we have started witnessing the upgrading of our formations across Nigeria.”
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