The Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS), has been in the eye of the storm in recent years as attacks on custodial facilities rise, peaking in 2022 with an audacious attack on the Kuje Medium Security Custodial Centre in the Federal Capital territory, (FCT), Abuja by terrorist group. Abubakar Umar, the Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the Service, in this interview with TINA ABEKU, speaks on the efforts and strategies being adopted to mitigate and forestall future attacks on custodial facilities across the country.
The name Nigerian Prisons Service (NPS), was over two years ago changed to the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS). To what extent has this name change repositioned the service for efficient delivery?
It has to a great extent. The notion before the change of name was that prison facilities were established for punitive and retributive reasons only, but in this new regime, it is all about the behaviour modification of the offender through correctional practices that will equip them to lead crime-free lives after discharge.
There have been renewed attacks on custodial centres. What would you say is responsible for this?
The custodial centres are part of the larger society. In fact, it is a microcosm of the society. It is not isolated from activities on the outside society. We are all aware of the security situation in the country. Being a part of the society, it is not shielded from the unfortunate security challenges we are facing. However, the Nigerian Correctional Service is poised to secure all its facilities nationwide.
How many of those who escaped from the Kuje facility have been apprehended so far?
The Kuje attack was an unfortunate one, which drew the ire of most Nigerians. It was an unfortunate incident. At the moment, we have deployed technology in Kuje, and we are monitoring every movement in that custodial centre from a situation room recently commissioned by the Minister of Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola. So far, we have recaptured a good number of the escapees. We have deployed overt and covert measures to track down those still at large.
What is the level of collaboration between NCoS and other agencies to ensure adequate security for the custodial centres?
Security is everybody’s business. We recognise as a Service that we need sister agencies as well as all Nigerians to meet our mandate of securing correctional facilities and reforming offenders. So, in the light of this, the Service collaborates with security agencies, government parastatals, NGOs, civil societies, and the media among others to further its operations. For instance, one of the numerous synergies we have is with the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN), which has led to the establishment of special centres of the university in many of our custodial facilities. We are open to collaboration so long as it will promote our mandates.
How far has the Service gone in the area of decongestion of custodial centres?
The Service has gone far. We have adopted a systematic procedure in eradicating the conundrum of overcrowding. The signing into Law of the Nigerian Correctional Service Act 2019 is an elixir that controlled this ugly phenomenon, which used to be our major challenge. The introduction of non-custodial sanctions such as parole, probation, community service, restorative justice, suspended sentence and so on, have engaged some of the offenders who would have been in custody. Offenders, who committed minor offences that do not warrant imprisonment, are rather sent on community supervision. Through this, custodial facilities are freed of the numbers. There are other efforts, which we are applying in decongesting our facilities such as encouraging regular jail delivery, pushing for clemency for offenders who qualify for it and capacity building in terms of expansion of our facilities.
With the level of attacks on personnel and custodial facilities, is there an efficient insurance policy in place for both personnel and the facilities?
Yes, there are several insurance measures for our staff. We have the Corrections Welfare Insurance Scheme (CWIS), and the Correctional Officers Coorporative Scheme (COCOS). They are provisions made to ensure our officers and their families have insurance over uncertainties. These are in addition to the Federal Government’s pension scheme for all federal workers. The Service has also recently activated its reward scheme for its staff with exceptional performance.
Looking at the pace of attacks on Nigerian prison formations all over the country, don’t you think there is a need to have armed personnel from sister agencies to help secure the prison formations?
Sure. There is and that is an option that the service has since cashed in on. If you go to most of our facilities, you’d see personnel from other security agencies guarding our facilities alongside our armed squad personnel.
THEGUARDIAN
