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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
News
Yobe: Member representing Jakusko repairs 250 hand pumps across constituency

Yobe: Member representing Jakusko repairs 250 hand pumps across constituency
By: Yahaya Wakili
In a bid to alleviate the suffering of water faced by his constituents, Honourable Ya’u Usman Dachia, Deputy Speaker and a member representing Jakusko constituents in the Yobe State House of Assembly, has embarked on a tour for repairs and servicing of 250 handpumps across his constituents. He thanks God, and His Royal Highness, Royal Father, Mai Bade, Alhaji Abubakar Umar Suleiman agreed he gave me the traditional title of Gado Da Masun Bade.

My constituents are the place where they voted me in, and if not because of my constituents, I would not find myself in the Yobe House of Assembly, and I didn’t go there to sit down and parade myself as a leader; I went there to represent my people of Jakusko local government, and everywhere, if they say you are a representative of the people, it’s almost like you are a messenger. After that, there is some responsibility on you to see that your people are enjoying themselves, are in good health, or are living in peace; that is why I am going round my constituents.
The time I was the chairman of the local government, I knew how I did my job in Jakusko as a chairman. If you met me, you presented your problem of your town or your village. Inshallah, before I go to the office, I will visit the town, and if the town is far, I will go to the office first, and on my way coming back home, I will branch to the town. If they tell me that our borehole has a problem, you, the complainer, before returning back home, will meet the mechanics repairing the borehole.

“The reason for doing these is because the masses, I am fearing, will question you about what you did to your people or why you live while your people are suffering. Alhamdulillah, I saw the impact of doing this. The reason why I say so is, to the best of my knowledge, Jakusko, they present many members, and all of them did only one tenure, but I have been doing it for three times now, and the masses agreed to vote for me, so there is a mature understanding between me and them. They agreed with me, and I, too, agreed with them. I will not agree with what will cheat them.
So I observe that I am in the house of assembly. I sit down with the governor and give him the advice that this is how I want to do it. He agrees, and then I embark on this tour of every village or town, and if there is a hand pump in Jakusko, I assure you I will go stand on it. Even if it is functioning, I will tell the mechanic to check it if there is a problem with the pipe or the pipe is not supplying enough water or has a problem, or if the pipe has become old and needs replacement, we will replace it, and then we will move to the next village. We have about 250 hand pumps in the Jakusko local government, and I assure you that I will repair or service them all. I will not go back to the office until I complete this work.

I started this work two days before Ramadan, and I spent almost the whole month on this tour, and now, immediately after Sallah, I will go back to continue with my work. Alhamdulillah, people understand the impact of it. They reach the level where people from the other village will come and request, Please, sir, live in that one and come and attend to us. We don’t have water.” I will reply to them, No, we are following step by step, line by line. Go and wait for your turn. After we finished our work, we would inform the public that if there is any village that we omit, they should let us know, and we will come back and repair it again.
Yobe: Member representing Jakusko repairs 250 hand pumps across constituency
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Bade, local government chairman, prays for Governor Buni

Bade, local government chairman, prays for Governor Buni
By Yahaya Wakili
The Executive Chairman of the Bade local government council, Yobe State, Hon. Ibrahim Babagana, has said the entire people of Bade local government will continue to pray to Allah (SWT) to reward His Excellency, the Executive Governor of Yobe State, Hon. Mai Mala Buni CON (Chiroman Gujba), with Aljannatul Firdaus.
Ibrahim Babagana revealed this to newsmen shortly after the end of the durbar at the emir’s palace at Gashua, the headquarters of the local government council.
He said, We, the entire people of Bade, don’t have anything to tell Chiroman Gujba except to thank him. God reward him and all that a leader is supposed to do for his people. Governor Mai Mala Buni has done for us. He said, first, if you look at roads, the Buni administration has linked all our communities with roads. If you come to market, we have a market even in the northeast; we are proud of it. Nowhere has a standard market like us.

“If we come to primary health care, there is no village or town in Bade local government that doesn’t have a health center, doesn’t have facilities, staff, and even wards; any ward has facilities. On the agriculture front, the Buni administration distributed farm implements to us, such as tractors, fertilizers, seeds, plows, threshers, and other farm implements. We were getting so many things that our masses benefited from it. And all these are courtesy and great achievements of His Excellency, Governor Mai Mala Buni, CON, Chiroman Gujba.
“In fact, between us, the entire people of Bade local government and His Excellency, the Executive Governor of Yobe State, Hon. Mai Mala Buni CON, continue praying for him. May Allah (SWT) reward him, may Allah reward him with Aljannatul Firdaus, and may Allah accept our prayers. Amen. And what remains to us, we the masses, is only loyalty, support, and cooperation with Buni’s administration.
Hon. Ibrahim Babagana said a visionary leader has done his own part; he solved all our problems and our entitlements, he fulfilled all his campaign promises to the people, and what remains is for us to follow him 100% and continue praying for him. May Allah continue to guide him and complete his tenure successfully, and may Allah guide him to bring a good successor who will continue from where he stopped.
Therefore, my appeal to the people is to be loyal always and always accept what God brings us. All that God designs, nobody can change it, and anything Allah did to you, if you say you didn’t agree, you must suffer. Therefore, we, the people of the Bade local government area, are together with His Excellency. Governor Mai Mala Buni CON Chiroman Gujba.
At the durbar, Babagana said, The Bade emirate council organized a durbar to celebrate the Sallah festivities, and there are so many cultural heritage and dances on display, and in the whole Yobe state, there is no other emirate that organized Sallah festivities on day one and day two and concluded with a durbar like the Bade emirate council. This is a proud moment for me and for the entire people of the Bade local government generally.
He further said on the first day, His Royal Father came and sat down, and thousands of people performed cultural heritage dances in different colors, and on day two, they set up a committee to organize a competition on horse racing. During the competition, they got first, second, and third positions, where His Royal Highness was sitting watching, which was very interesting. It was something for motivation to improve the cultural heritage of the Bade local government, and people supported it.
Bade, local government chairman, prays for Governor Buni
News
Malians Youth Gang Violent Clashes Claims Life in Maiduguri

Malians Youth Gang Violent Clashes Claims Life in Maiduguri
By: Zagazola Makama
An 18-year-old youth, identified as Bakura Muhammed, was fatally stabbed on April 4, 2025, during a violent clash between rival youth groups in Maiduguri.
Intelligence sources told Zagazola Makama that the altercation occurred at about 4:30 PM in the Ajari and Tashan Lara areas, where youths from both sides engaged in a free-for-all fight.
The victim was fatally stabbed on the stomach. He was immediately transported to the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital, by the security personnel from Maiduguri Borno police command, where he was confirmed dead by medical personnel.
A police sources said that seven individuals, aged between 15 and 24, have been arrested in connection with the incident. They include Ba’abba Kyari (20), Ali Alhaji GoniAli (20), Muhammed Audu (18), Ali Isa (15), Adam Sabir (15), Mohammed Tujja (17), and Usman Kasim (24).
Authorities are still searching for other members of the gang who fled the scene.
The victim’s body has been deposited at the hospital morgue for autopsy and was later released to the family for burial in accordance with Islamic rites.
Malians Youth Gang Violent Clashes Claims Life in Maiduguri
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