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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
Nine passengers perish in Ghastly vehicular crash on Maiduguri Damaturu road
By: Bodunrin Kayode
Nine passengers have died on the spot after their vehicle a Borno Express commercial bus heading to Maiduguri crossed its lane recently to collide with an on coming heavy duty vehicle headed for Damaturu.
The devastating crash occurred at Auno community area on Friday, at about 1530 hrs said the Federal Road Safety Corp (FRSC) Commander Usman Mohammed.
The Sector Commander told this reporter that while eight of the commuters died on the spot, one died in the specialist hospital obviously after profuse bleeding making the total casualties to be nine which is the highest figure for this year in Borno state.
“The breakdown of the crash was the loss of Five adult Males, one adult female,, Two boys and One girl child not beyond the age of about 10.” Said the commander.
The sector commander noted that out of the total number of passengers in the hummer bus, seven others sustained various injuries and were rushed to the Maiduguri specialist hospital for treatment.
“The crash involved two vehicles a Toyota Hummer bus belonging to Borno Express carrying loads of papers possibly for a non governmental organization from Kaduna and a commercial Trailer heading towards Yobe.
“The hummer bus had stopped at Potiskum to drop some passengers he had from Kaduna and took another set for Maiduguri which was his ultimate destination with the cargo.
” The obvious cause of the crash is attributed to over speeding which resulted into loss of control which took him to the wrong lane.
” Sadly, you know that Auno is a dangerous zone on that route which is why many commuters refused to stop on the way to help them even after eight passengers died on the spot while the ninth one perished in the maiduguri Specialist hospital.
“This is the worse crash we have had this year unlike what we had early this year at Beneshek in which four people lost their lives on the spot.
“Our thoughts and condolences go out to the families and loved ones of the deceased. The motoring public are urged to exercise caution on the road while traveling.” Said commander Musa Adamu.
Nine passengers perish in Ghastly vehicular crash on Maiduguri Damaturu road
Flash Flooding: Betara Clears Drainages, Gives Relief Materials in Biu
By: Michael Mike
Member representing Biu, Kwaya Kusar, Bayo, and Shani federal constituency in the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Muktar Betara Aliyu has swiftly responded to the devastating flood in his constituency by mobilizing emergency relief efforts to repair damaged areas and provide support to affected residents.
After a sudden flash flood that has hit several wards in Biu local government area, causing significant damage to homes and infrastructure, the lawmaker mobilized people to clear the drainage to forestall future reoccurrence.
He equally dispatched truckloads of relief materials to be shared to people affected by the flood.
The flood which was triggered by heavy rainfall recently, making overflowed bridges and inundated homes in various parts of the Biu.
According to recent of Biu town, Dauda Yusuf: “Rt. Hon. Muktar Betara Aliyu, the federal lawmaker representing Biu, Kwaya Kusar, Bayo, and Shani federal constituency in his usual manner has swiftly responded to the disaster that ravaged parts of Biu.
“He mobilized emergency relief efforts to repair damaged areas and provide support to affected residents.
“We could not have asked for better representative, Betara has always been supportive in all situations, in times of troubles just like this present flood and in times of celebration during Ramadans and many Sallahs, he always found something to give.”
A statement from Betara Youth Team (BYT) at the weekend, read that: “The feedback from the community resident was inspiring, and it is clear that this intervention will have a lasting impact on the lives of those who live there.
“Rt. Hon Muktar Betara Aliyu is committed to continuing to bring the benefits of democracy to his people and he will continue to work tirelessly to improve their lives.”
End
Troops repel attempted terrorist infiltration in Monguno, recover arms and supplies
By: Zagazola Makama
Troops of Sector 3, Operation Hadin Kai, have repelled an attempted infiltration by terrorists into Monguno town through the Charlie 15 axis in Borno State.
Sources told Zagazola Makama on Sunday that the attempted attack occurred at about 0255 hours on Sunday but was swiftly repelled by alert troops who engaged the insurgents in a firefight.
The source said that during pursuit, the troops observed blood stains along the withdrawal route of the fleeing terrorists, suggesting that some of them may have sustained injuries.
Items recovered from the scene included seven rounds of 7.62mm special ammunition, one PKT machine gun belt, an empty AK-47 rifle magazine, an RPG bomb, spaghetti, and a pair of slippers.
There was no casualty on the side of the troops, and there was no further contact with the terrorists as they retreated into the bush.
Troops repel attempted terrorist infiltration in Monguno, recover arms and supplies
Nine passengers perish in Ghastly vehicular crash on Maiduguri Damaturu road
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