Aregbesola: Kano 3,000 capacity Correctional facility ready soon
Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, the Interior Minister, has informed that the Federal Government of Nigeria has assured that the 3,000 capacity Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS), being constructed in Janguza, Kano State will be ready for commissioning next year April 2022.
Aregbesola, who made the disclosure while briefing the State House Media at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, stated that the facility has reached 85% completion, adding that, five others have also reached various levels of completion across the rest five geopolitical zones of the country.
The aim of the government to construct six additional Custodial Centres across the six geo-political zones, Aregbesola informed, was to “decongest the (existing ) custodial centres, ensure good living condition for inmates, and support the implementation of the NCoS Act 2019 with the goal of rehabilitating, reformation, and reintegration of inmates.”
His words: “In the period under review, we commenced the construction of 3,000 modern capacity custodial Centres in each of the six geopolitical zones. Construction is almost at completion stages in Janguza, Kano State (85% completion) and will be completed by April 2022; Karshi, in FCT (65% completion) and Bori, in Rivers State (40% completion).
While revealing that the NCoS, a Service under the supervision of the Interior Ministry, in keeping with its responsibility of rehabilitating and reintegrating inmates, has included the building of life centres into the 3,000 capacity custodial centres being constructed in each of the six geopolitical regions of the country.
“We have integrated the construction of life centres into the new 3,000-capacity custodial facilities in each of the geo-political zones. The focus of these centres would be on behaviour modification of inmates to reduce the rate of recidivism and facilitate the reintegration of inmates upon release from custody,” the minister declared.
Speaking on the escaped inmates, the Minister assured Nigerians that fleeing inmates have nowhere to hide as those still on the run cannot fully reintegrate into the society, saying all their biometric data have been captured and all other critical information needed to exist as a full citizen has been digitally secured.
“I will like to inform Nigerians that we have captured the biometric information of all inmates in the facilities of NCoS working in partnership with the Nigerian Identity Management Commission (NIMC).
“Therefore, we have the capacity and are tracking all escapees from our facilities. In addition, we are working with and have shared the details of escapees with INTERPOL, to check the risks of cross border movements,” Aregbesola disclosed.
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Answering questions on reformation and rehabilitation of the inmates, the Minister disclosed further that there are 465 inmates running different degree programmes at the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN).
He spoke further thus: “There are various ongoing reformation and education programmes for inmates in our custodial facilities. The Service, in partnership with the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN), has increased the number of Study Centres to 10 across Correctional formations namely Abeokuta, Anambra, Enugu, Kaduna, Keffi, Kuje, Lafia, Lagos, Port Harcourt, and Umuahia.”
Aregbesola further informed that “there are currently about 465 inmates running various Degree programs, 85 of the inmates are running Post – Graduate Degree programs, four are running PhD programmes within the custodial facilities,” adding that, another batch of 560 inmates have also been enrolled for WAEC/NECO Examinations, and 2300 for Adult Literacy Classes in several Custodial Centres.
Additional Borstal Training Institutions, the Minister disclosed, are also to be established for young offenders, male and female, in each State of the Federation.
