The Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN), Tuesday said since coming into being of the Presidential Committee on Prisons Reform and Decongestion (Presidential Committee on Correctional Service Reform and Decongestion), chaired by the Chief Judge of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, Justice Ishaq Bello, no fewer than 7,813 inmates had benefitted from the programme.
He said a total of 3,789 inmates have been released from the Nigeria Correctional Service Cenntre since the outbreak of COVID 19 pandemic in the country to curb its spread among inmates.
Malami noted that the committee in the discharge of its mandate visited and appraised 39 prisons in 18 states of the federation.
“A total number of Seven Thousand, eight Hundred and thirteen (7,813), have been so far released during these visits through advocacy overtures to relevant authorities and in collaboration with other stakeholders, via general review of peculiar cases and via payment of fines for convicts for minor offences with the option of fine who are unable to pay the fines, general review of peculiar cases and advocacy overtures to relevant authorities,” the minister said in a statement sent to pressmen after meeting with members to review achievements of the committee in Abuja on Tuesday.
The AGF lamented the inadequacy of Nigeria’s correctional facilities, which he said are currently operating at more than 150% of their capacity.
He added that there is an ongoing construction of 3000-capacity maximum security custodial centres in Karshi, Abuja and in Janguza, Kano State.
The AGF said: ”Undoubtedly, the COVID19 pandemic has posed its own peculiar challenges in light of the worrisome and dilapidated state of our correctional centres nationwide. Without belabouring the facts, it is pertinent to note the inadequacy of our correctional facilities, which are currently operating at more than 150% of their capacity.
”As part of measures to decongest the custodial centres nationwide in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and the dangers posed to the centres, the HAGF’s office, the Ministry of Interior in collaboration with Presidential Committee on Correctional Service and Decongestion, the Presidential Advisory Committee on Prerogative of Mercy and State Executives and Other relevant stakeholders,were galvanised to develop measures to overcome the challenges.
”The initiatives adopted we have been able to so far led to the release of about 3,789 inmates while simultaneously reducing the instances of unnecessary test and we intend to sustain this momentum”.
Malami said that during the visit of the chairman of the committee, Justice Bello, to the correctional centres nationwide, the committee carried out inspection exercises where a number of facilities were discovered to be in dire need of urgent rehabilitation and “we made recommendations as a matter of urgency to the relevant authorities for the renovation/construction of these facilities.”
He said the committee, after a review of cases of inmates eligible for Prerogative of Mercy and condemned convicts on death row for over 10 years, has written and keeps writing letters of appeal to several state government executives to act on some special cases encountered during the visits to some states as well as to exercise their powers of clemency in deserving cases or commute to life sentence those condemned to death.
