From Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja
House of Representatives, yesterday, charged the controller general of Nigeria Correctional Service to reinforce the armed squad of the service, as part of measures to improve security at the various custodial centres nationwide.
The House also called for synergy between the federal and state governments to curb the spate of attacks on custodial centres nationwide.
It equally charged security agencies to intensify efforts to recapture escapees from the various centres.
Also, the Green Chamber mandated its Committee on Reformatory Institutions to investigate the cases of jailbreaks across the country and report back to the House within 60 days for further legislative actions.
These followed the adoption of a motion by Chudy Momah on “need to investigate jailbreaks across the country with a view to forestalling reoccurrence.’’
The House expressed concern over the rising cases of attack on custodial centres, noting that it poses serious threat to the security of the country.
According to the parliament, no fewer than 1,844 inmates, escaped from the Owerri Custodial Centre during the recent attack on the facility by gunmen.
“Correctional centres in Borno, Enugu, Oko, Konto-karfe, Oyo, Kano, Edo, Ondo and Owerri have been attacked and a huge number of inmates released into the society.The continuous violation of our correctional facilities, if not checked,
could lead to further deterioration of current insecurity in the country,’’ it said.