The Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola, has disclosed that the federal government to a large extent, has addressed the problem of inmates contracting diseases in custodial centres and that the FG spends N1 million annually to cater for one inmate at the country’s correctional facilities.
At the Port Harcourt Maximum Security Custodial Center’s unveiling of a 20-bed COVID-19 Crisis Intervention Fund hospital and equipment, Aregbesola made the disclosure.
According to Aregbesola, the project would leave a lasting legacy and serve as an indicator to how seriously the Federal Government has thus far addressed the welfare of both inmates and those working in correctional facilities.
In a statement by his spokesman, Sola Fasure, on Saturday in Abuja, Aregbesola added that the Muhammadu Buhari-led administration had, to a large extent, addressed the problem of inmates contracting diseases in custodial centres.
He added that the new hospital was an intervention aimed at making robust healthcare for those in custody and the NCoS staff.
The minister also decried the enormous challenges of running correctional services with huge demands for infrastructure, equipment and maintaining the welfare of inmates.
Aregebsola, however, assured that the Federal Government had provided a long-term solution to the challenges.
He said: “The custodial centres were frighteningly centres for contracting diseases like scabies and tuberculosis, among others.
“Happily, this has been addressed by the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration and is now a thing of the past.
“We not only have well-manned clinics and well-stocked pharmacies, the inmates at the custodial centres now have access to excellent medical care beyond the centres.
“This centre in Port Harcourt, with a capacity for 1,800 inmates, presently houses about 3,067 inmates. This is just a reflection of the situation in most urban custodial centres where we have congestion at the moment.
“The facilities and even the personnel are overstretched, but we are coping and providing long-term solutions to this challenge.
“One of such solution is the construction of mega 3,000-capacity custodial villages in six geo-political zones of the country. The one for the South-South is in Bori, not far from here in Rivers.
“The ones for the North-West in Janguza, Kano and the North-Central, in Karshi, Abuja, are ready. Hopefully, we shall inaugurate the one in Kano in a few days, before our departure.
“Even work is steadily going on in the others and has reached an appreciable level. Let me also reiterate that the Federal Government will stop feeding inmates incarcerated for breaching state laws. As you commence your budget process for next year, include feeding your inmates.”
Aregbesola said that he had no doubt the facility would make a significant contribution to addressing the medical needs of prisoners and correctional staff.
The minister praised the leadership and personnel of the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS) for their tireless efforts to ward off the infection.
Ada Peter
