THE Federal Government has set up a committee on prison
decongestion, Minister of Interior Rauf Aregbesola said on
Wednesday.
The target is to decongest the prisons within six months, he
said.
According to the minister, states will be carried along in the
exercise as 90 per cent of awaiting trial inmates are violators of
state offences.
Aregbesola said the committee had been working with the
Attorney-General of the Federation towards decongesting
correctional facilities.
He spoke at a public hearing organised by the National Assembly
Joint Committee on Appropriation.
The minister said: “In no distant future, we will reduce the
issue of awaiting trial considerably; as we are also working with
the governors on that.
“Close to 90 per cent of the awaiting trial inmates are
violators of state laws and so are essentially the responsibility
of the various state governments.
“So, we need to carry them along in devising strategies to
decongest the facilities. In six months, this will be put behind
us.”
Aregbesola said there were 75, 000 inmates in the correctional
facilities.
According to him, the new law signed by President Muhammadu
Buhari not only renamed the prisons, but it empowers correctional
officers not to admit offenders where facilities cannot accommodate
them.
The minister said the government was determined to reduce
pressure on its facilities and improve their conditions.
The law renames the Nigerian Prisons Service to the Nigerian
Correctional Service.
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