…Interior Ministry, TWG Fine-tune Legal Framework to Protect Civilians
By Frank Momoh
The Federal Government through the Ministry of Interior on Tuesday said a 3,000 capacity Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS) Correctional Village being constructed in Janguza, Kano State will be ready for commissioning in April 2022.
The Minister of Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, made the disclosure at the State House while fielding questions from Reporters at the Presidential Villa.
Meanwhile, in its determined effort to address civil unrest in the country, the Ministry has assured of its readiness to partner with a Civil Society Organisation: The Technical Working Group (TWG) for the Draft of a National Policy of Civilians against Civil Harm Mitigation (POC-CHM).
The Minister said: “In the period under review, we commenced the construction of 3,000 modern capacity custodial centre in each of the six geopolitical zones. Construction is almost at completion stages in Janguza, Kano State (85% completion) and will be completed by April, 2022; Karshi, in FCT (65% completion) and Bori, in Rivers State (40% completion).
According to him, the new facilities would help decongest the custodial centres, ensure good living condition for inmates, and support the implementation of the NCoS Act 2019 with the goal of rehabilitating, reformation, and reintegration of inmates.
“We have integrated the construction of life centers into the new 3,000-capacity custodial facilities in each of the geo-political zones. The focus of these centres would be on behaviour modification of inmates to reduce the rate of recidivism and facilitate the reintegration of inmates upon release from custody,” Mr. Aregbesola stated.
On escaped inmates, he assured that fleeing inmates have nowhere to hide as those still on the run cannot fully reintegrate into the society as all their biometric data have been captured and all other critical information needed to exist as a full citizen has been digitally secured.
“I will like to inform Nigerians that we have captured the biometric information of all inmates in the facilities of NCoS working in partnership with the Nigerian Identity Management Commission (NIMC).
“Therefore, we have the capacity and are tracking all escapees from our facilities. In addition, we are working with and have shared the details of escapees with INTERPOL, to check the risks of cross border movements,” the minister revealed.
On reformation and rehabilitation of the inmates, the Minister revealed that there are 465 inmates running different degree programmes at the National Open University of Nigeria.
“There are various ongoing reformation and education programmes for inmates in our custodial facilities. The Service, in partnership with the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN), has increased the number of Study Centres to 10 across Correctional formations (Abeokuta, Anambra, Enugu, Kaduna, Keffi, Kuje, Lafia, Lagos, Port Harcourt, and Umuahia).
“There are currently about 465 inmates running various Degree programs, 85 of the inmates are running Post – Graduate Degree programs, four are running PhD programmes within the custodial facilities.
“A total of 560 inmates have been enrolled for WAEC/NECO Examinations, and 2300 for Adult Literacy Classes in several Custodial Centers. Additional Borstal Training Institutions for young offenders, male and female, are to be established in each State of the Federation,” Ogbeni Aregbesola stated.
In another development, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry, Dr. Shuaib Belgore, gave the assurance while representing the Minister during a courtesy call and formal presentation of the Draft National Policy of the Technical Working Group.
In a statement signed by Ozokwelu Nonye, on behalf of the Director, of Media, Mrs. Blessing Lere-Adams, she quoted the Permanent Secretary as saying: that the Ministry, which is basically charged with providing internal security and ensuring citizen integrity is willing to partner with reliable organization.
Therefore, the draft policy, the Permanent Secretary asserted is coming at the right time, adding that this will no doubt, help in engaging our youths in meaningful and profitable activities.
Speaking, further, Permanent Secretary acknowledged that the Administration of President Muhammadu Buhari is doing so much in terms of social welfare and support to the population, however the necessary awareness is not being created concerning these activities.
“There are so many programmes that are geared towards creating jobs, assistance in social relief, boosting small and medium scale entrepreneurship, are varied Government efforts in ensuring youth employment and wealth creation.
In his presentation, a board member of the Technical Working Group, Mr. Adesina Oke, said the organisation is not oblivious of the fact that government as a whole is making spirited efforts, but as responsible Civil Society Organisation (CSO), they also felt that it is important to contribute to these efforts of government, by partnering and supporting government in all ways possible, noting that some of the programmes will be funded by their organisation.
In the same vein, the Director Joint Services, Mr. Peter Egbodo, revealed that the organization, will produce a roadmap for rules and operational engagement for the Ministry and Security Services in armed conflicts in line with global best practices rooted in the numerous UN Treaties, Conventions and protocols to which Nigeria is a signatory.
He said with the passage and assent of the policy, Nigeria stands as the first country to domesticate and operationalize the all-important policy that seeks to protect civilians.