Magnus Eze, Enugu
House of Representatives Committee on Correctional Institutions has decried the deplorable state of facilities at the nation’s correctional centres, especially in the South East.
Chairman of the committee, Anayo Edwin, stated this in Enugu after his committee concluded its oversight function at the correctional centres in Enugu and Ebonyi states. The lawmaker identified toilet and kitchen facilities as well as skills acquisition equipment as those areas that needed urgent attention by the Federal Government.
He also expressed concern about overcrowding in the centres, which he attributed to high rate of awaiting trial inmates.
Edwin said: “The issues we will address immediately we get to Abuja include the erection of the kitchen in Enugu, toilets in Abakaliki.
“We visited the six geopolitical zones and saw that the southeast is lacking in terms of these infrastructures and is the worst in terms of facilities but we are going to do something about it.
“On the judiciary compounding matters on the issue of awaiting trial; it is something that one man cannot do alone. All the stakeholders in this sector have to come in; the judiciary, the police, everybody has to come in because when you go to correctional centres, 80 per cent of inmates are awaiting trial and we also observed the issue of under aged persons in the correctional centres.
“I believe that this awaiting trial issue will be addressed, the National Assembly is going to look into the case; we are going to work with the Judiciary Committee and the Police Affairs Committee to know how to resolve it.
Another thing is minor offences such as one stealing N10, 000 which I believe it is what the police charge that the judiciary uses for trial.”