May 13, 2023

The Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola, has called on state governments to build custodial centres so as to accommodate offenders of state laws currently in Federal facilities.

Aregbesola made the call when he inaugurated an office complex for the Nigeria Correctional Service (NCoS) in Avu, Owerri, on Friday.

The minister said with the removal of custodial centres from the exclusive list, states should invest in corrections, particularly rehabilitation and reintegration of inmates.

The Minister said that the complex would provide good working environment for officers and men of the command which would in turn translate to greater national security.

He said the NCoS had in recent weeks inaugurated similar projects in Osun and Rivers with expectations that its six custodial villages, one in each geopolitical zones, would soon be completed.

Aregbesola thanked President Muhammadu Buhari for his support and said the complex and other projects would help decongest existing correctional facilities in line with global standard.

“Each of the six custodial centres we are building will accommodate 3000 inmates, have five High Courts and several enterprise facilities for skill acquisition by inmates.”

He said as part of the shift from incarceration to reformation, and rehabilitation, 1,704 inmates sat for WASSCE and 634 of them passed.

The minister added that 4,767 inmates enrolled for adult education programmes in 2022.

In his remark, the Controller General of NCoS, Haliru Nababa, thanked the minister for his pragmatic leadership and support, adding that the complex would highly motivate the staff to produce excellent results.

“The importance of providing appropriate and conducive working environment cannot be overemphasized as it is germane for excellent service delivery.

“I am fully confident that the service will witness additional output as a result of this upgrade in infrastructure and this is a step in the right direction “, he said.

Also, Gov. Hope Uzodimma of Imo, represented by his Deputy, Prof. Placid Njoku, thanked the Federal Government for the completion of the project.

The Chief Judge of Imo, Justice Theresa Chikeka was represented by Justice Chinyere Okereke, while all Heads of agencies under the interior ministry in the state attended the event.

Awards of excellence were presented to Aregbesola and Nababa by the Imo chapter of International Prison Chaplaincy Association of Nigeria. (NAN)