The federal government has pledged to take measures to prevent a repeat of the incident that occurred at the Medium Security Custodial Centre in Suleja on April 24, where heavy rainfall led to the escape of 118 inmates due to the destruction of the facility’s walls.
News About Nigeria reports that the Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, made this vow during an inspection tour of the ongoing 3,000-capacity Custodial Centre in Karshi, Abuja, as well as the old and new custodial centres in Keffi, Nasarawa State.
The minister reiterated his commitment to relocating some custodial facilities that are facing challenges due to urbanisation.
He said the Suleja incident highlighted the need for improved infrastructure and security measures to prevent similar incidents in the future.
During his visit to the New Medium Security Custodial Centre in Keffi, Tunji-Ojo noted that the facility was housing 750 inmates, exceeding its capacity of 340, with 605 of them awaiting trial.
Tunji said the government’s efforts aimed to enhance the security and capacity of its 256 custodial centres nationwide to prevent future breaches.
Tunji said, “Our correctional centres, as we said, have changed from prisons to the Correctional Service. And obviously, it means that there has to be a paradigm shift in ideology, from a place of incarceration to a place of transformation, a place of reformation, and a place of correction.
“We were earlier at Karshi to look at the work that is going on there with regards to the 3000-capacity Custodial Centre. Of course, we have one or two observations, which I would not like to share in front of the cameras.
“When we get back to the office, then we will sit down as the ministry and the NCoS come together to brainstorm solutions to some of the issues we realised.
“Here in Keffi, the custodial centres are highly populated and the number of inmates is quite high. We have in Keffi alone two correctional centres, Keffi new and Keffi old; we have over 1000. That is a huge number—almost 1500.
“We came to look at it, and of course, you know a lot of inmates from FCT get here. We have come to look, and we saw the perimeter fencing because, as we have always said, we do not want a repeat of what happened in Suleja.”
The minister said part of the measures is to erect concrete perimeter fences around the facilities.
