Maureen Okpe
The Minister of interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, has commended the Non-Governmental Organisation, Prisoners Rehabilitation and Welfare Action (PRAWA), for its transformative reforms in Nigeria’s correctional service.
Tunji-Ojo gave the commendation in Abuja, at the two days international conference on corrections, Justice, peace, security and development, as part of activities to mark PRAWA’s 30th anniversary.
The conference organised by PRAWA, Body of Attorneys General and Conference of Speakers in collaboration with the Federal Ministries of Justice and Interior with support from the European Union, urged the need for systemic change in the service.
The Minister expressed appreciation to the leadership of the Organisation for maintaining the trust of the people while calling for attitudinal change in the attitude and practices of correctional officers.
He said, “while recognizing what the last 30 years have given us, we must also understand and appreciate Dr. Uju for one thing, for not betraying the trust of the people.
“Alot of people go into NGO for a lot of reasons but she went in there to add value, we celebrate you have all you have done.”
The Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN) Fagbemi restated government’s commitment to promoting international best practices in the correctional services.
He assured the stakeholders that the Ministry of Justice remains committed to upholding the dignity and justice of the correctional service.
Also, Board Chairman PRAWA, Chris Enenya, spotlighted the need for collaboration between federal and state institutions in addressing systemic challenges in the correctional service.
Enenya noted that correctional services are central to justice, human rights, and security, stressing the need for a collective action to resolve issues such as overcrowding, underfunding, prolonged pretrial detention, and insufficient use of non-custodial measures.
He called for relevant policies that creates roadmap for sustainable reforms, adding the service should not only rehabilitate offenders but also enhance public safety and societal cohesion.
The Board Chairman reflected on PRAWA’s 30 years of service, acknowledging its contributions to building capacity among correctional officers, creating operational guidelines for non-custodial measures, and supporting the reintegration of ex-offenders.
Speaking on the sidelines with Journalists at the conference, PRAWA President, Associate Professor Uju Agomoh calls for the decongestion and implementation of the NCS act.
She said, “First, we reduce the population,make sure that most of the people there should not be people who have not been convicted. If somebody is convicted, you know when the person will go.
“We have over 70% who have not been convicted, in some states, that population is about 96%. So the whole justice sector must do everything possible to reduce the number of people who have not been convicted.
“Secondly, we have to have full and effective implementation of the Nigerian Correctional Service Act of 2019. There are a lot of provisions there that if we are dealing with, we will not be where we are.
“In terms of non-custodial, what is provided by law, is making sure that the population does not exceed the capacity, because every correctional center has designated capacity.And the law has put a mechanism to help control that overcrowding.
“We must make sure that everybody that comes in must have some form of education, whether it’s formal or skills acquisition or vocational workshop, as a compulsory process.And providing possibility that when they come out, that certain person has to have help in the community.
“Non-custodial measure, is a very low hanging fruit. Because in custody, you are feeding them, you are spending on them.But when you are talking about non-custodial, the country will be saved a lot of resources. The person will still retain their ties in the community.”