News
Build and Manage Your Correctional Facilities, or Pay to have Your Inmates in Ours, FG tells State governments
Build and Manage Your Correctional Facilities, or Pay to have Your Inmates in Ours, FG tells State governments
By: Michael Mike
The federal government on Thursday told state governments to either build and manage their correctional facilities or pay the cost of keeping their inmates at facilities built by the central government.
Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola, said even though the justice system clearly segments states and federal offenders, the federal government has been the only one in charge of custodial facilities and has to bear the burden of financing them.
He said the federal government can no longer be responsible for correctional management of state offenders, urging state governments to build and manage their own custodial facilities as empowered in the newly amended Nigerian Correctional Service Act of 2019.
He made this known at a two-day High Level Conference on Decongestion and Corrections Administration in Abuja.
He said that Nigeria presently has 244 custodial centres with the bulk of them being in the state capitals and the centres which have a provision for 52,278 inmates, as at Tuesday 9th May 2023 exceeded their limit by over 23,000.
He said: “These facilities are being run by the federal government but it should be noted that the criminal justice system of Nigeria makes provision for state and federal offences, however until the amendment of the Constitution, only the federal government was in charge of custodial centres.
“With the amendment of the Constitution in this regard, states are now empowered to build correctional centres and facilities to house offenders who are convicted and sentenced for committing state offences. Where states are unable to build custodial centres, it is believed that they can suggest ways to collaborate with the federal government in feeding and housing these state offenders.”
The minister noted that the primary objective of the constitution amendment on Corrections assented to by President Muhammadu Buhari, is to correct the overcrowding of our custodial centres resulting from a high number of pre-trial detentions, arbitrary arrests.
He said: “Let me make this clear ab initio. When we talk about congestion, this is a phenomenon of the large urban centres in places like Lagos, Ibadan, Kano, Kaduna, Port Harcourt, Benin, Owerri, Enugu and state capitals in general. The custodial facilities in the not so urban areas are not as overcrowded, with many of them indeed operating below capacity.
“As population grows and society becomes more complex, conflicts in interpersonal relations and challenges of existence will breed more criminal tendencies necessitating incarceration for convicted offenders or those awaiting trial but which the justice system determined are best kept away from society.”
He decried that overcrowding in the custodial centres has led to huge revenue drain for the federal government, being the only party shouldering the responsibility of running and maintaining the custodial centres.
He said: “The amendment of the 1999 Constitution, which has now placed corrections in the concurrent list is therefore a welcomed development.
“This conference is also to bring to the fore applicable laws to aid the reform of the corrections, custodial and non-custodial sentencing. Section 12(4- 12) of the Nigeria Correctional Services Act (NCoS Act) 2019 gives the Nigeria Correctional Service the powers to reject inmates when centres are filled up.
The Minister advised Stakeholders in the criminal justice sector to brainstorm and develop a roadmap for effective management of custodial population and pre-trial detention through the implementation of relevant sections of applicable laws.
In her comment, the Founder and Executive Director of Prisoners Rehabilitation and Welfare Action, (PRAWA), Dr. Uju Agomoh said for proper reformation, rehabilitation and reintegration of offenders, the states need to consider taking some form of responsibility like feeding of inmates because there are more state offenders than federal offenders.
“The issue of community corrections is what we must consider because we can correct people also in the society and the overuse of imprisonment is something that we will into especially the putting in place of mechanisms to address it,” she said.
While stressing the importance of the rule of law for peace and tranquillity, Chief Justice of Nigeria, observed that the police is very important in the Administration of justice and must therefore ensure that the process is hitch free.
“The prison system happened to be one of the institutions upon which the rule of law is sounded. I need to make it clear here that as a matter of fact, prosecutors to a very large extent are at the mercy of the police on the success or otherwise of criminal prosecution and this brings to the fore the imperative of cordial,” he said.
He therefore called for better working relationship to fast track justice delivery for pre-trial inmates.
Build and Manage Your Correctional Facilities, or Pay to have Your Inmates in Ours, FG tells State governments
Military
Troops neutralise four ISWAP logistics suppliers in multiple ambushes in Borno
Troops neutralise four ISWAP logistics suppliers in multiple ambushes in Borno
By: Zagazola Makama
Troops of Operation Hadin Kai have neutralised four Boko Haram/ISWAP logistics suppliers in a series of coordinated ambush operations conducted across multiple locations in Konduga Local Government Area of Borno State.
Sources revealed on Monday, that the ambushes were part of Operation Desert Sanity IV/Diligent Search.
The sources said that the troops carried out three separate ambushes on October 25, 2025, at different terrorist crossing points around Kukauku, Delta Company Kawuri, and Alou Dam, all within Konduga axis.
“At about 11:35 a.m., troops of 222 Battalion conducted an ambush at Kuka Uku crossing point in Delta Company Kawuri, where one terrorist logistics supplier was neutralised,” the report stated.
It added that another ambush team positioned ahead of Charlie Company in Konduga LGA successfully neutralised one more terrorist logistics supplier.
“In a separate operation, an ambush team lying in wait at a crossing point in Alpha Company, Alou Dam, neutralised two additional terrorist logistics suppliers,” the sources said.
The operations were conducted without any casualties on the part of the troops, while the four neutralised suspects were confirmed to be affiliated with Jama’atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda’awati wal-Jihad (JAS) and Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP).
The sources added that the general security situation in the area remained calm but unpredictable, with troops maintaining high morale and combat readiness.
The sources further noted that the coordinated ambushes were part of ongoing clearance and interdiction operations aimed at cutting off terrorists’ supply routes and denying them freedom of movement within the North-East theatre.
Troops neutralise four ISWAP logistics suppliers in multiple ambushes in Borno
News
Why We Expanded Presidential Amnesty Scholarship Scheme- Otuaro
Why We Expanded Presidential Amnesty Scholarship Scheme- Otuaro
By: Michael Mike
The Administrator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP), Dr Dennis Otuaro has expressed his unwavering commitment to ensuring that more indigent students and communities of the Niger Delta benefit from the PAP scholarship scheme.
He stated this while explaining what informed his decision to expand the scheme and increase formal education opportunities for poor students, and to build a huge manpower base in the region.
Otuaro spoke during an interactive session in London on Saturday with the beneficiaries of the scholarship initiative deployed for undergraduate and post-graduate programmes in universities across the United Kingdom.
The engagement, which was at the instance of the PAP boss, provided an opportunity for the Office and the scholarship students to discuss issues pertaining to their welfare and challenges with a view to addressing them.
Otuaro said that while in-country scholarship deployment was 3800 in the 2024/2025 academic year, the figure increased to 3900 in the 2025/2026 and foreign scholarships were about 200.
He attributed the increase in deployment to the massive support of President Bola Tinubu and the Office of the National Security Adviser.
Otuaro stressed that he was greatly encouraged by the President and the NSA, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, and that he knows how impressed both of them are concerning the PAP initiatives, which align with the Renewed Hope Agenda.
He reiterated his call on the students to justify the huge investment in their education by the Federal Government by studying hard to make good grades.
He also urged them to conduct themselves and be responsible ambassadors of Nigeria while in the U.K, stressing that “you will be adding value to your families and communities when you complete your programmes successfully.”
The PAP helmsman said, “We want the scholarship programme to impact more students and communities in the Niger Delta. That’s why we have expanded it and increased formal education opportunities.
“We want you to take this opportunity very seriously so that the government, too, will be encouraged. I know how much support His Excellency, President Bola Tinubu GCFR, gives to the Presidential Amnesty Programme.
“Mr President and the National Security Adviser (NSA), Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, are very impressed with what we are doing. On your behalf I would like to, once again , thank His Excellency and the NSA for giving you this life-changing opportunity. We are confident that Mr President and the NSA will continue to support us.
“The knowledge you are receiving in your institutions today is to enable you plan yourself and prepare for the future. Whatever knowledge you gain cannot be taken from you.
“So as PAP scholarship students, we expect responsible and good behaviour from you. Government is investing heavily in you and you have the obligation to justify the investment. Be agents of change and avoid acts of mischief while in the U.K.”
Why We Expanded Presidential Amnesty Scholarship Scheme- Otuaro
News
Rumbles in the Borno health sector as workers continue their grumbling for better packages
Rumbles in the Borno health sector as workers continue their grumbling for better packages
By: Bodunrin Kayode
For the second month running some health workers in the Borno State health sector have continued their grumbling over the discriminatory wages dished out to them by the government.
They are frustrated that in spite of their lingering protests, the lopsided salary payment continues among the Borno State Health team believed to be one of the best in the country.
They argued during a recent chat with this reporter that “nurses and junior doctors with lesser certificates and qualifications are being paid and rewarded higher than others just because they belong to trade unions that have perfected the act and practices of trade union melancholy, greediness and selfishness.”
The aggrieved workers who preferred to remain anonymous posited that the Borno health workforce are working at crossroads with suspicion, envy and hatred adding that there is total lack of trust and love among their ranks since such virtues are seemingly lost.
The professionals maintained that Pharmacists, Laboratory Scientists, Radiographers, Physiotherapists and other allied Specialists are obviously frustrated even as they work with deep grudges against the system showing so much apathy to them.
They wonder why nurses and junior doctors with lesser qualifications, experience or skills were better renumerated, given quarters to stay and enjoy other broader privileges while they are treated like trash.
“The leadership of the Health sector made up of three Professors of medicine for reasons best known to them continuously misadvice the highly rated executive Governor of Borno State and have succeeded in reducing the once agile and effective Borno State Health service to it’s lowest ebb.” One of them said.
Speaking further, they regretted that pregnant women despite the free maternal drug program set up for them by the government, they still suffer neglect and abuse by some care givers who are disgruntled.
They added that sadly, in spite of all the efforts of the government, “majority of citizens stay on endless queue waiting for several hours to access basic medical service especially in our secondary healthcare facilities.
“Laboratory orders and medical investigations are conducted by Ill motivated staff with disenchantment.
“Drugs are being prescribed indiscriminately to citizens without drug-drug or drug-food interaction screening and safety checks by certified Pharmacists because of the very few numbers of Graduate Pharmacist Staff in employment.
“His Excellency, the best achieving Governor in the History of Nigeria and also known worldwide should not allow His envious records of sub regional governance job perfection to be dented by bad and self seeking advisers and gluttonous union officials” The concluded.
Borno is suffering from a huge deficit of health workers but recently the Government has been doing all it can to lay the foundation for the correction of this lapse.
Rumbles in the Borno health sector as workers continue their grumbling for better packages
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