Spokesman of the Nigerian Correctional Service, Umar Abubakar, talks about the reforms by the NCoS, the cause of overcrowding in custodial facilities and more in this interview with GIFT HABIB
Can you provide an overview of the Nigeria Correctional Service’s role and responsibilities?
The Nigerian Correctional Service is a department of the Federal Government that operates custodial and non-custodial sanctions in Nigeria. The Service, which derives its operational powers from the Nigerian Correctional Service Act 2019, is charged with administering custodial and non-custodial services. The custodial service includes keeping custody of the legally interned in a safe, secure, and humane condition, as well as identifying the existence and causes of the anti-social behaviours of convicted inmates. Furthermore, the service is mandated to conduct risk. It needs assessment, which is aimed at developing appropriate correctional treatment methods for reformation, rehabilitation and resettlement, and also ensuring that awaiting trial inmates and those on appeal are conveyed to and from courts in motorised formations. Most importantly, the Service implements reformation and rehabilitation programmes to enhance the reintegration of inmates back into society while initiating behaviour modification in offenders through the provision of medical, psychological, spiritual and counselling services for all offenders, including violent extremists. The Service also empowers inmates through the deployment of educational and vocational skills training programmes, and facilitating incentives and income generation through custodial centres, farms and industries. It further administers borstal and related institutions as well as providing support to facilitate the speedy disposal of cases of persons awaiting trial. The Service performs other functions as may be required to further the general goals and functions of the Service, such as election duties, as well as peace-keeping duties. On the other hand, the non-custodial service is saddled with the responsibility of administering community sentences like community service orders, probation, parole, restorative justice and other non-custodial measures assigned to the correctional service by a court of competent jurisdiction.
What are some of the major reforms and initiatives currently underway within the correctional facilities?
Several reforms and initiatives have been put in place to improve offenders’ management as well as the NCoS as a whole. You would agree with me that the perennial challenge of the Nigerian correctional system has always been the issue of congestion and overcrowding in our facilities. We have set in place several initiatives and reforms to address this age-long conundrum. First of all, we realised that laws and legislation were important in driving any reform whatsoever. Hence, we commenced the repeal of the abrogated Prison Act of 2003 and replaced it with the Nigerian Correctional Service Act 2019. The Act provides cutting-edge solutions to some of the primary challenges of the correctional system in Nigeria. For instance, the Act introduced non-custodial measures which are the best for minor and first-time offenders. The Act also empowers the NCoS to reject new inmates when the capacity of the custodial centre is filled. It provides for the professional management of special classes of offenders such as females and juvenile offenders. In terms of improving security in and around custodial facilities, the Service has commenced automation of surveillance activities in custodial facilities. There is currently a command and control centre located at the national headquarters, Abuja, from where custodial facilities are monitored. We have keyed into the use of ICT in inmates’ cases and data management using our data solution known as the Correctional Information Management System. In addition, we have made serious progress in rapid response during emergencies by providing ample logistical support to the Correctional Armed Squad in all state commands. In terms of inmates’ reintegration and aftercare, we have not relented in providing aftercare materials to ex-offenders who were empowered while in custody. Every year, we provide packages to discharging offenders to enable them start-up their own businesses and vocations and support themselves and their families as well as their communities. Needless to say, there is a lot that has been done to reform the NCoS and reposition it to meet its statutory mandates as expected by all Nigerians. However, for the want of time and space, I would not be able to reel out all of them.
Correctional facilities remain overcrowded despite recent decongestion efforts. What are the root causes and are there plans to address systemic factors contributing to overcrowding, beyond periodic releases?
The root cause of overcrowding in the custodial facilities is the slow dispensation of justice. As I speak to you, the inmate population in Nigeria stands at over 80,000, occupying spaces meant for just a little above 50,000. Out of the total number of inmates, about 69 per cent of them are awaiting trial persons. Most of the awaiting trials are those facing capital offences such as armed robbery, murder, culpable homicide etc, and as such these cases take time to be investigated and prosecuted in Nigeria. On our part, we are tackling this menace with a multidimensional approach, one of which is the expansion of custodial facilities nationwide. Currently, we are in the process of adding 18,000 spaces to our total capacity by constructing new custodial centres to take 3,000 inmates each. We have completed the one in the North West geopolitical zone, and hope that others in other zones would be completed soon. We are also ensuring judicial guarantees to inmates by providing them access to courts. We ensure that we provide awaiting trial persons in court as and when due. We have also introduced noncustodial measures to ease up spaces in the custodial centres, while we are partnering with other stakeholders in the criminal justice system to ensure efficiency and speedy dispensation of justice. We are also advising state authorities to consider changed inmates for clemency, while we work with the state judiciary to conduct regular jail delivery exercises in custodial centres nationwide. There are several plans on ground towards addressing the conundrum of overcrowding and enhancing the operational capacity of the NCoS. But again, for the want of time, I would limit them to the above-mentioned for now.
Nigeria has a high number of death-row inmates. Has the correctional service advocated for reform of death penalty laws, and is there a strategic plan to manage or reduce this population?
The number of inmates on death row in custodial centres is high because there is currently a kind of moratorium on the execution of IDRs. As a service, we cannot execute them on our own without the state authorities appending their death warrants. However, for us as a service, we try to engage them in various reformatory and rehabilitation activities. This is targeted towards empowering them as they may eventually be pardoned to return to society. Many of them have gone through reformative programmes such as anger management, counselling, and restorative justice programmes etc. Many of them have been reformed, granted pardons, and returned to society as good citizens.
What is the role of the NCoS in managing high-profile or dangerous offenders?
The Service is part of the agencies in the deradicalisation programme of violent extremist offenders, who are mostly repentant terrorists operating in the North East as well as other regions in Nigeria. Also in custodial centres, we have inmates on death row who are classified as high-profile offenders. As of the 11th of November 2024, we have a total of 3,569 inmates on death row. These offenders are difficult to manage and their number is growing. They are especially difficult to administer in terms of their psychological and emotional well-being. However, we are trained to contain their excesses and manage them in line with the Standard Minimum Rules. We employ a lot of strategies in managing such offenders. Having known their psychological and emotional vulnerabilities, which are occasioned by the weight of the sentence placed on them, we begin by doing a risk and needs assessment through profiling. Thereafter, we provide them with appropriate treatment methods in terms of dissuading them from their destructive personalities. This we do by engaging them in edifying courses such as anger management, as well as restorative justice programmes, to get them at peace with themselves, as well as the people who fell victims to their criminal actions. Thereafter, we provide them with empowerment programmes such as educational and vocational/skills acquisition programmes. Through these programmes, they are taught skills that would equip them to be responsible members of their communities. We also teach them courses like entrepreneurship, as well as civic education, just to get them to be more patriotic citizens.
Can you elaborate more on the vocational and educational opportunities available for inmates?
There are lots of programmes we employ to transform offenders into good and responsible citizens. We have formal educational programmes in which inmates in custodial centres can further their education up to the doctorate degree level. As I talk to you, there are several inmates undergoing undergraduate and postgraduate programmes right in our confines. We also have vocational programmes where inmates can learn skills such as tailoring, carpentry, welding, metal fabrication, shoe making, as well as production of household products such as soap, detergent, etc. In addition, we have services such as chaplaincy, library, medical, aftercare, recreational and others we render to make inmates better citizens of the country upon discharge.
There were two prison escapes by inmates in Suleja and Maiduguri custodial centres in 2024. How many inmates are still at large nationwide in the last three years? How does the Service track and manage this issue?
We all know that the major causes of the escapes in the two facilities you mentioned is primarily due to natural disasters, which we have no control over. In conjunction with sister security agencies, as well as several organisations like banks, community leaders and well-meaning individuals, we have recaptured a lot of them and returned them back to where they are supposed to be. Let me use this medium to state that the synergy between the service and relevant agencies is very strong and cordial. They have assisted us in tracking down some of these fugitives. I assure you that in no distant time, all of them will be recaptured and returned to safe custody.
With inflation impacting food prices, how is the correctional service ensuring that inmates’ basic needs are met? How much is budgeted for inmate’s feeding?
It has been herculean for the Service to manage the teeming number of inmates in our custodial centres in this period of high inflation and economic meltdown. The service has brought its ingenuity in managing and containing the situation, and that is why you have not heard of any insurrection arising from any of our facilities as a result of feeding. We ensure that the quantity and quality of their meals are maintained. The service deserves to be commended for being able to manage custodial centres without any rancour emanating from them, especially in the face of crass inflation.
Relocating over 200 custodial centres is a significant undertaking. What are the primary goals of this relocation, and how will it impact both the prison system and communities?
Most of our facilities have been taken over by urbanisation, and as a result, they have been encroached upon. This is counterproductive to our mandates, as well as our mission and vision. The Minister of Interior, Dr. Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, is liaising with relevant stakeholders and state authorities to relocate some of the facilities caught up by urbanisation to safer locations. The primary goal of relocating these facilities is basically to promote public safety and to provide a conducive environment for the reformation, rehabilitation and reintegration of inmates.
You announced plans for an audit across custodial centres. Can you outline what this audit will entail, how it will address issues of overcrowding, and how the data will be used to inform policy changes?
The said audit is a brainchild of the Minister of Interior. It is one of the strategies of the minister towards improving the conditions in custodial centres, reducing overcrowding, as well as protecting the human rights of inmates. The audit entails taking stock of the necessary indices that contribute to better management of custodial facilities in Nigeria.
What steps are being taken to improve the working conditions and safety of correctional officers?
As you know, correctional officials are germane to the functioning of the system; hence, their welfare should not be handled with kids gloves. We have realised this and set up welfare packages for the members of staff. For instance, in the face of fuel scarcity and imbroglio, the Service rolled out logistical support to the members of staff to chauffeur them to and from work, at no cost. We are also ensuring that their entitlements and remunerations are paid as and when due. In addition, the Correctional Welfare Insurance Scheme is up-and-coming, ensuring that staff who are injured or lose their lives in the line of duty are properly and adequately compensated. We have also reactivated the Reward Fund through which we reward exceptional staff members. We are also constructing more accommodation facilities and barracks for the staff to ease the stress they face in paying rent elsewhere. There are a lot of welfare packages for the members of staff, which for the want of time, I would not be able to list them all.
How is the NCoS addressing public concerns regarding alleged human rights abuses in prisons?
We are addressing issues of such legitimately using relevant laws. The Service does not condone any form of human rights abuses, and if we discover such, we address such using relevant laws and legislation. We are also working with relevant agencies in the criminal justice system to ensure that the human rights of inmates are protected and respected. We liaise with the National Human Rights Commission, Civil Society Organisations and others to ensure that human rights are not tampered with in any of our facilities nationwide.
What is the NCoS’s vision for the future, and how do you see it evolving in the next few years?
Our vision for the future is to be the best correctional service in Africa and globally. We look forward to a future where the Service will feature prominently as one to be reckoned with. We hope to provide both custodial and non-custodial services that are in line with the best standards globally.
