The Federal Government of Nigeria has said the 3,000 capacity Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS) Correctional Village being constructed in Janguza, Kano State, would be ready for commissioning in April, 2022.
Minister of Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, gave the update during the State House Press Briefing whilst answering questions from reporters at the Presidential Villa.
“In the period under review, we commenced the construction of 3000 modern capacity custodial center in each of the 6 geopolitical zones. Construction is almost at completion stages in Janguza, Kano State (85% completion) and will be completed by April, 2022; Karshi, in FCT (65% completion) and Bori, in Rivers State (40% completion).
“This would decongest the custodial centers, ensure good living condition for inmates, and support the implementation of the NCoS Act 2019 with the goal of rehabilitating, reformation, and reintegration of inmates,” the Minister stated.
The Minister who revealed that the NCoS, a Service under his supervision, in keeping with its responsibility of rehabilitating and reintegrating inmates, has included the building of life centres into the 3,000 capacity custodial centres being built in each of the six geopolitical zones of the country.
“We have integrated the construction of life centers into the new 3000-capacity custodial facilities in each of the geo-political zones. The focus of these centers would be on behavior modification of inmates to reduce the rate of recidivism and facilitate the reintegration of inmates upon release from custody,” Mr. Aregbesola stated.
The FG assured that fleeing inmates have nowhere to hide as those still on the run cannot fully reintegrate into the society as all their biometric data have been captured and all other critical information needed to exist as a full citizen has been digitally secured.
“I will like to inform Nigerians that we have captured the biometric information of all inmates in the facilities of NCoS working in partnership with the Nigerian Identity Management Commission, NIMC.
“Therefore, we have the capacity and are tracking all escapees from our facilities. In addition , we are working with and have shared the details of escapees with INTERPOL, to check the risks of cross border movements,” the minister revealed.
On reformation and rehabilitation of the inmates, the Minister revealed that there are 465 inmates running different degree programmes at the National Open University of Nigeria.
“There are various ongoing reformation and education programs for inmates in our custodial facilities. The Service, in partnership with the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN), has increased the number of Study Centers to ten across Correctional formations (Abeokuta, Anambra, Enugu, Kaduna, Keffi, Kuje, Lafia, Lagos, Port Harcourt, and Umuahia).
“There are currently about 465 inmates running various Degree programs, 85 of the inmates are running Post – Graduate Degree programs, 4 are running PhD programs within the custodial facilities. 560 inmates have been enrolled for WAEC/NECO examinations, and 2300 for adult literacy classes in several custodial centrrs. Additional borstal training institutions for young offenders, male and female, are to be established in each State of the Federation,” Aregbesola stated.