Kano State Command of the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS) has decried the alarming cases of inmates awaiting trial across its centres. Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the Command, Musbahu Lawan, at a briefing, yesterday, expressed worry over the implications of the development.
Lawan revealed that the facility, which was already stretched above capacity, posed a huge challenge to the standard operations of the handlers, who themselves were vulnerable to potential threats.
The PRO said: “Statistics show that awaiting trial inmates constitute about 70 per cent of the total number of inmates in the state and that most of them have stayed in custody with their cases yet to be determined by the courts.
“So far, if the awaiting trial persons are eventually convicted, we would not cry over the congestion because our laws give us the power to transfer convicted inmates to any facility in the country.”
According to him, convicted inmates are easier to manage because they are mandated to engage in various reformatory programmes, an opportunity, which awaiting trial persons may not have.
“Most of the convicted inmates also benefit from the educational programmes in the custodial centres. For instance, 38 convicted inmates sat for and passed the O’level exams and are now seeking admission at the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN).
“But due to the additional interest of the inmates in academics, the service is working with NOUN to establish more study centres in the custodial centres in the state. But our major obstacle is lack of study facilities like computers,” Lawan emphasised.
