The major mandate of the Nigeria Correctional Service is the safe custody of the legally interned and to ensure that inmates are reformed, rehabilitated and effectively reintegrated back into society but the Correctional Service, formerly known as the Nigerian Prison Service, is bedeviled with a plethora of problems, hampering its ability to reform inmates. Apart from prison congestion, there is also the problem of corruption or compromise among some officials.
It s Time To Decongest Prisons And Reform Justice Administration thestreetjournal.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from thestreetjournal.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Recent directives by the Federal Government ordering immediate decongestion of correctional centres across the country is heartening, at least as a measure of alleviating the worsening, dehumanising living conditions of prisoners in those centres.
Sonnie Ekwowusi argues for the decongestion of the correctional centres
I donât know about you but I must confess that I am still unable to come to terms with the name correctional centres, the new name of the Nigerian prisons. Why? Because Nigerian prisons are not correctional centres: they are punishment centres, or, poignantly, human dignity violation centres. The Nigerian prisons, for lack of better expression, are hell on earth notwithstanding the change of the name. And since there is no correction in hell no prisoner can regain his humanity after passing through any of the Nigerian prisons. By the way, I donât know why we like fighting skirmishes and symptoms instead of main problems. For instance, the name of NEPA has been changed to Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN). Has that improved electricity supply in Nigeria? We are still experiencing the same, if not aggravated, and epileptic electricity supply. The uniform of the police has been changed. Has that cha