FG restates commitment to prisons reform, decongestion

The Minister of Interior, retired Lt.-Gen. Abdulrahman Dambazau, has reiterated the commitment of the Federal Government towards a holistic prisons reform.
The minister stated this on Monday in Abakaliki, during the inspection of prison blocks been built by the Ebonyi Government and other facilities at the Abakaliki prison.
He said prisons reform was necessary to ensure that Nigerian Prisons conform to the United Nations minimum standard.
According to him, prisons decongestion is one of the most important and effective ways to ensure effective prisons reform.
He regretted that no fewer than 70 per cent of inmates in Nigerian prisons are awaiting trial inmates.
He noted that most prisons facilities across the country were accommodating inmates beyond their capacities.
He said: “We need to deal with that issue but this cannot be done by the Nigeria Prisons Service alone.
“Nigeria prisons are just a ware house for inmates who are either convicted or awaiting trials.
“If a warrant is given to them they cannot reject it. So, they have to keep the inmates. But we are working on how to decongest the prisons.
“To deal with prisons congestion, we have to work with the police and the law courts; the police have to properly investigate before charging a matter to court.
“Otherwise, if you charge a matter to court without properly investigating, it will certainly hamper speedy dispensation of justice; and the law courts will have to deal with unnecessary court adjournments.”
He said that the NPS would concentrate on the issue of rehabilitation of prisoners, to ensure that they were better reformed before leaving the penitentiary.
Dambazau said: “NPS will concentrate on the rehabilitation of the prisoners because it doesn’t make sense that when you send one to prison and he returns worse than he came.”
Dambazau further assured of government commitment to the welfare of prisoners and prisons officials.
He said: “The issue of capacity building was a serious issue when we came to office and we have been able to deal with it though the challenge is still there. But we have come up with trainings and capacity building.”
The minister said that the issue of regular staff promotion was also being addressed to boost their morale, adding that staff promotion was now based on productivity and merit.
He added: As a matter of policy, we have said nobody can be promoted from one rank to another without certain requirements.”