HELLHOLE CALLED PRISON

Events/records indicates that despite government’s acceptance of recommendations of several committees and panels set up to reform the prisons system, it

has failed to implement these recommendations.

CONGESTION: Symptom of anomaly in prison system But a senior official of the NPS who spoke on condition of anonymity rather preferred to lay the blame of prison congestion on the prevailing anomaly in the system. He argued that the relationship between the prison, the Police and the various state governments should be redefined to reflect current realities in the criminal justice system. If this is not done, he said, the problem will continue. According to him: “If you look at the set up of the prison, the Federal Government owns the prison, the state government owns the inmates; all over the country, 90 per cent of the inmates are from the states. But the states contribute zero (to the upkeep and maintenance of prisons). That is why somebody who stole noodles worth N10 is remanded in prison. Underaged prison inmates at the Badagry prisons in Lagos State Recently there was a case of a 20-year-old man in Ibadan, Oyo State, Olalekan Adebisi, who was jailed for six months for stealing mosquito nets. “How can somebody who is hungry and steals two tubers of yam appear before you and you send him to be remanded in prison. And in prison you expect to feed him with N450 everyday and he will probably be there for months. How much is the yam? If the state government is allowed to take care of the prison, it will not readily send somebody who stole two tubers of yam or a pack of noodles to prison. State governments will probably send such people to work in farm centres. “Even if they decongest the prisons, within a period of six months, be sure that we will be back to square one …So, it’s not the issue of decongestion. It’s a problem of the society; society has to take another look at this anomaly and carry out reformation to reverse this. It’s the problem of the criminal justice system. Let’s look at the problem this way: Somebody stole N200 with pen knife: that is robbery. Another person is awarded contract of N2 billion to repair the Lagos-Ibadan expressway and decides to embezzle the money and goes scot free because he is connected and belonged to the rich, privileged class. “Meanwhile, due to his criminal failure to execute the contract he was awarded, hundreds of lives are lost on the road through accidents caused by the road not being fixed. “We need to go back to the basics; we have to go back to study how the prison was constituted and carry out necessary reforms that will go a long way in solving this particular problem. Nelson Mandela said the strength of a country is measured by the way it treats its prisoners. “So, if your prisoners are not treated well, it means your country is not well developed. Between January and this month, the number of those brought to prison has been increasing by 100 per cent, and it will continue like this until the basic things are done to address the problem.” 

Congestion and jail breaks Another factor that has come to be associated with over-crowding or congestion in Nigerian prisons is frequent jail breaks. Apart from its dire security implications, jail break clearly advertises the inmates’ disenchantment with the prevailing condition in their prison or how they are being treated. In other words, it is their own way of protesting, for instance, that they can no longer endure being confined in an overcrowded space within a prison environment. So, the prevalence of jail breaks, some of which were recorded in recent time, can only be interpreted as signifying that the prisons have either failed in their correctional and reformatory duties to prisoners or do not have the enabling wherewithal to do so. 

A national daily report on this noted, for instance, that reformation of prison inmates is primary going by the philosophy that informed the setting up of prisons in the first place. On that score, “inmates should be released as positively changed persons positioned for positive contribution to societal growth and development”. It did not stop there. “Expansion, renovation and re-construction work in the affected prisons by the NPS, in addition to upgrading the facilities used by inmates is, therefore, necessary. Without doubt, this will enhance the human capital development capacity of the prisons where cases of congestion exist. “It has also been suggested, just as with other institutions currently under the control of the Federal Government alone, that with the obvious financial burden involved in funding prisons nationwide, there is the need for the amendment of the country’s Constitution to place the prisons in the Concurrent, rather than the Exclusive list. This will allow the states to share in the responsibility for the benefit of the country. “There is also the urgent need to enhance the criminal justice delivery system in the country. With available statistics on the number of awaiting trial inmates, the speedy resolution of cases should be prioritised as part of the on-going reforms by the judiciary,” it further noted. But while acknowledging the reality of the problem bedevilling the Nigerian prisons over the years and which past intervention committees or panels failed to address, NPS Spokesperson, Enobore, was optimistic that the new committee, given its mandate, could make a world of difference in terms of engendering a process of positive change in the prison system in Nigeria. “Nigerian prisons today, one would say, is not the best that Nigerians will dream to have, the reason being that there are challenges, including overcrowding which is no longer news. There are infrastructural gaps as a result of long years of neglect and this is understandably so because over 100 of the 244 prisons in the country are more than 100 years old and many were inherited from the colonial masters.

Read more at: https://www.vanguardngr.com/2017/12/hellhole-called-nigerian-prisons-2/

The second part of this report published yesterday, indicated that despite government’s acceptance of recommendations of several committees and panels set up to reform the prisons system, it has failed to implement these recommendations. CONGESTION: Symptom of anomaly in prison system But a senior official of the NPS who spoke on condition of anonymity rather preferred to lay the blame of prison congestion on the prevailing anomaly in the system. He argued that the relationship between the prison, the Police and the various state governments should be redefined to reflect current realities in the criminal justice system. If this is not done, he said, the problem will continue. According to him: “If you look at the set up of the prison, the Federal Government owns the prison, the state government owns the inmates; all over the country, 90 per cent of the inmates are from the states. But the states contribute zero (to the upkeep and maintenance of prisons). That is why somebody who stole noodles worth N10 is remanded in prison. Underaged prison inmates at the Badagry prisons in Lagos State Recently there was a case of a 20-year-old man in Ibadan, Oyo State, Olalekan Adebisi, who was jailed for six months for stealing mosquito nets. “How can somebody who is hungry and steals two tubers of yam appear before you and you send him to be remanded in prison. And in prison you expect to feed him with N450 everyday and he will probably be there for months. How much is the yam? If the state government is allowed to take care of the prison, it will not readily send somebody who stole two tubers of yam or a pack of noodles to prison. State governments will probably send such people to work in farm centres. “Even if they decongest the prisons, within a period of six months, be sure that we will be back to square one …So, it’s not the issue of decongestion. It’s a problem of the society; society has to take another look at this anomaly and carry out reformation to reverse this. It’s the problem of the criminal justice system. Let’s look at the problem this way: Somebody stole N200 with pen knife: that is robbery. Another person is awarded contract of N2 billion to repair the Lagos-Ibadan expressway and decides to embezzle the money and goes scot free because he is connected and belonged to the rich, privileged class. “Meanwhile, due to his criminal failure to execute the contract he was awarded, hundreds of lives are lost on the road through accidents caused by the road not being fixed. “We need to go back to the basics; we have to go back to study how the prison was constituted and carry out necessary reforms that will go a long way in solving this particular problem. Nelson Mandela said the strength of a country is measured by the way it treats its prisoners. “So, if your prisoners are not treated well, it means your country is not well developed. Between January and this month, the number of those brought to prison has been increasing by 100 per cent, and it will continue like this until the basic things are done to address the problem.” Congestion and jail breaks Another factor that has come to be associated with over-crowding or congestion in Nigerian prisons is frequent jail breaks. Apart from its dire security implications, jail break clearly advertises the inmates’ disenchantment with the prevailing condition in their prison or how they are being treated. In other words, it is their own way of protesting, for instance, that they can no longer endure being confined in an overcrowded space within a prison environment. So, the prevalence of jail breaks, some of which were recorded in recent time, can only be interpreted as signifying that the prisons have either failed in their correctional and reformatory duties to prisoners or do not have the enabling wherewithal to do so. A national daily report on this noted, for instance, that reformation of prison inmates is primary going by the philosophy that informed the setting up of prisons in the first place. On that score, “inmates should be released as positively changed persons positioned for positive contribution to societal growth and development”. It did not stop there. “Expansion, renovation and re-construction work in the affected prisons by the NPS, in addition to upgrading the facilities used by inmates is, therefore, necessary. Without doubt, this will enhance the human capital development capacity of the prisons where cases of congestion exist. “It has also been suggested, just as with other institutions currently under the control of the Federal Government alone, that with the obvious financial burden involved in funding prisons nationwide, there is the need for the amendment of the country’s Constitution to place the prisons in the Concurrent, rather than the Exclusive list. This will allow the states to share in the responsibility for the benefit of the country. “There is also the urgent need to enhance the criminal justice delivery system in the country. With available statistics on the number of awaiting trial inmates, the speedy resolution of cases should be prioritised as part of the on-going reforms by the judiciary,” it further noted. But while acknowledging the reality of the problem bedevilling the Nigerian prisons over the years and which past intervention committees or panels failed to address, NPS Spokesperson, Enobore, was optimistic that the new committee, given its mandate, could make a world of difference in terms of engendering a process of positive change in the prison system in Nigeria. “Nigerian prisons today, one would say, is not the best that Nigerians will dream to have, the reason being that there are challenges, including overcrowding which is no longer news. There are infrastructural gaps as a result of long years of neglect and this is understandably so because over 100 of the 244 prisons in the country are more than 100 years old and many were inherited from the colonial masters.

Read more at: https://www.vanguardngr.com/2017/12/hellhole-called-nigerian-prisons-2/

The second part of this report published yesterday, indicated that despite government’s acceptance of recommendations of several committees and panels set up to reform the prisons system, it has failed to implement these recommendations. CONGESTION: Symptom of anomaly in prison system But a senior official of the NPS who spoke on condition of anonymity rather preferred to lay the blame of prison congestion on the prevailing anomaly in the system. He argued that the relationship between the prison, the Police and the various state governments should be redefined to reflect current realities in the criminal justice system. If this is not done, he said, the problem will continue. According to him: “If you look at the set up of the prison, the Federal Government owns the prison, the state government owns the inmates; all over the country, 90 per cent of the inmates are from the states. But the states contribute zero (to the upkeep and maintenance of prisons). That is why somebody who stole noodles worth N10 is remanded in prison. Underaged prison inmates at the Badagry prisons in Lagos State Recently there was a case of a 20-year-old man in Ibadan, Oyo State, Olalekan Adebisi, who was jailed for six months for stealing mosquito nets. “How can somebody who is hungry and steals two tubers of yam appear before you and you send him to be remanded in prison. And in prison you expect to feed him with N450 everyday and he will probably be there for months. How much is the yam? If the state government is allowed to take care of the prison, it will not readily send somebody who stole two tubers of yam or a pack of noodles to prison. State governments will probably send such people to work in farm centres. “Even if they decongest the prisons, within a period of six months, be sure that we will be back to square one …So, it’s not the issue of decongestion. It’s a problem of the society; society has to take another look at this anomaly and carry out reformation to reverse this. It’s the problem of the criminal justice system. Let’s look at the problem this way: Somebody stole N200 with pen knife: that is robbery. Another person is awarded contract of N2 billion to repair the Lagos-Ibadan expressway and decides to embezzle the money and goes scot free because he is connected and belonged to the rich, privileged class. “Meanwhile, due to his criminal failure to execute the contract he was awarded, hundreds of lives are lost on the road through accidents caused by the road not being fixed. “We need to go back to the basics; we have to go back to study how the prison was constituted and carry out necessary reforms that will go a long way in solving this particular problem. Nelson Mandela said the strength of a country is measured by the way it treats its prisoners. “So, if your prisoners are not treated well, it means your country is not well developed. Between January and this month, the number of those brought to prison has been increasing by 100 per cent, and it will continue like this until the basic things are done to address the problem.” Congestion and jail breaks Another factor that has come to be associated with over-crowding or congestion in Nigerian prisons is frequent jail breaks. Apart from its dire security implications, jail break clearly advertises the inmates’ disenchantment with the prevailing condition in their prison or how they are being treated. In other words, it is their own way of protesting, for instance, that they can no longer endure being confined in an overcrowded space within a prison environment. So, the prevalence of jail breaks, some of which were recorded in recent time, can only be interpreted as signifying that the prisons have either failed in their correctional and reformatory duties to prisoners or do not have the enabling wherewithal to do so. A national daily report on this noted, for instance, that reformation of prison inmates is primary going by the philosophy that informed the setting up of prisons in the first place. On that score, “inmates should be released as positively changed persons positioned for positive contribution to societal growth and development”. It did not stop there. “Expansion, renovation and re-construction work in the affected prisons by the NPS, in addition to upgrading the facilities used by inmates is, therefore, necessary. Without doubt, this will enhance the human capital development capacity of the prisons where cases of congestion exist. “It has also been suggested, just as with other institutions currently under the control of the Federal Government alone, that with the obvious financial burden involved in funding prisons nationwide, there is the need for the amendment of the country’s Constitution to place the prisons in the Concurrent, rather than the Exclusive list. This will allow the states to share in the responsibility for the benefit of the country. “There is also the urgent need to enhance the criminal justice delivery system in the country. With available statistics on the number of awaiting trial inmates, the speedy resolution of cases should be prioritised as part of the on-going reforms by the judiciary,” it further noted. But while acknowledging the reality of the problem bedevilling the Nigerian prisons over the years and which past intervention committees or panels failed to address, NPS Spokesperson, Enobore, was optimistic that the new committee, given its mandate, could make a world of difference in terms of engendering a process of positive change in the prison system in Nigeria. “Nigerian prisons today, one would say, is not the best that Nigerians will dream to have, the reason being that there are challenges, including overcrowding which is no longer news. There are infrastructural gaps as a result of long years of neglect and this is understandably so because over 100 of the 244 prisons in the country are more than 100 years old and many were inherited from the colonial masters.

Read more at: https://www.vanguardngr.com/2017/12/hellhole-called-nigerian-prisons-2/

The second part of this report published yesterday, indicated that despite government’s acceptance of recommendations of several committees and panels set up to reform the prisons system, it has failed to implement these recommendations. CONGESTION: Symptom of anomaly in prison system But a senior official of the NPS who spoke on condition of anonymity rather preferred to lay the blame of prison congestion on the prevailing anomaly in the system. He argued that the relationship between the prison, the Police and the various state governments should be redefined to reflect current realities in the criminal justice system. If this is not done, he said, the problem will continue. According to him: “If you look at the set up of the prison, the Federal Government owns the prison, the state government owns the inmates; all over the country, 90 per cent of the inmates are from the states. But the states contribute zero (to the upkeep and maintenance of prisons). That is why somebody who stole noodles worth N10 is remanded in prison. Underaged prison inmates at the Badagry prisons in Lagos State Recently there was a case of a 20-year-old man in Ibadan, Oyo State, Olalekan Adebisi, who was jailed for six months for stealing mosquito nets. “How can somebody who is hungry and steals two tubers of yam appear before you and you send him to be remanded in prison. And in prison you expect to feed him with N450 everyday and he will probably be there for months. How much is the yam? If the state government is allowed to take care of the prison, it will not readily send somebody who stole two tubers of yam or a pack of noodles to prison. State governments will probably send such people to work in farm centres. “Even if they decongest the prisons, within a period of six months, be sure that we will be back to square one …So, it’s not the issue of decongestion. It’s a problem of the society; society has to take another look at this anomaly and carry out reformation to reverse this. It’s the problem of the criminal justice system. Let’s look at the problem this way: Somebody stole N200 with pen knife: that is robbery. Another person is awarded contract of N2 billion to repair the Lagos-Ibadan expressway and decides to embezzle the money and goes scot free because he is connected and belonged to the rich, privileged class. “Meanwhile, due to his criminal failure to execute the contract he was awarded, hundreds of lives are lost on the road through accidents caused by the road not being fixed. “We need to go back to the basics; we have to go back to study how the prison was constituted and carry out necessary reforms that will go a long way in solving this particular problem. Nelson Mandela said the strength of a country is measured by the way it treats its prisoners. “So, if your prisoners are not treated well, it means your country is not well developed. Between January and this month, the number of those brought to prison has been increasing by 100 per cent, and it will continue like this until the basic things are done to address the problem.” Congestion and jail breaks Another factor that has come to be associated with over-crowding or congestion in Nigerian prisons is frequent jail breaks. Apart from its dire security implications, jail break clearly advertises the inmates’ disenchantment with the prevailing condition in their prison or how they are being treated. In other words, it is their own way of protesting, for instance, that they can no longer endure being confined in an overcrowded space within a prison environment. So, the prevalence of jail breaks, some of which were recorded in recent time, can only be interpreted as signifying that the prisons have either failed in their correctional and reformatory duties to prisoners or do not have the enabling wherewithal to do so. A national daily report on this noted, for instance, that reformation of prison inmates is primary going by the philosophy that informed the setting up of prisons in the first place. On that score, “inmates should be released as positively changed persons positioned for positive contribution to societal growth and development”. It did not stop there. “Expansion, renovation and re-construction work in the affected prisons by the NPS, in addition to upgrading the facilities used by inmates is, therefore, necessary. Without doubt, this will enhance the human capital development capacity of the prisons where cases of congestion exist. “It has also been suggested, just as with other institutions currently under the control of the Federal Government alone, that with the obvious financial burden involved in funding prisons nationwide, there is the need for the amendment of the country’s Constitution to place the prisons in the Concurrent, rather than the Exclusive list. This will allow the states to share in the responsibility for the benefit of the country. “There is also the urgent need to enhance the criminal justice delivery system in the country. With available statistics on the number of awaiting trial inmates, the speedy resolution of cases should be prioritised as part of the on-going reforms by the judiciary,” it further noted. But while acknowledging the reality of the problem bedevilling the Nigerian prisons over the years and which past intervention committees or panels failed to address, NPS Spokesperson, Enobore, was optimistic that the new committee, given its mandate, could make a world of difference in terms of engendering a process of positive change in the prison system in Nigeria. “Nigerian prisons today, one would say, is not the best that Nigerians will dream to have, the reason being that there are challenges, including overcrowding which is no longer news. There are infrastructural gaps as a result of long years of neglect and this is understandably so because over 100 of the 244 prisons in the country are more than 100 years old and many were inherited from the colonial masters.

Read more at: https://www.vanguardngr.com/2017/12/hellhole-called-nigerian-prisons-2/