THE Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola, has called on the judicial arm of the government to support the ongoing reform in the Nigeria Correctional Service (NCoS) through the timely conclusion of criminal cases.
He specifically advocated a 12-month timeline for dispensation of justice on criminal cases brought to the court.
He spoke on Tuesday at a two-day Controller General of Corrections’ Retreat held in Sokoto, Sokoto State, a statement by his Media Adviser, Sola Fasure, said.
Arẹgbẹsọla said the judiciary should ensure that from the arrest of suspects to the conclusion of their cases in court, the maximum time spent on their trial should not be more than 12 months.
He urged personnel of the correctional service to begin the advocacy for a year dispensation of justice on criminal cases.
While disclosing that he was a victim of delay in justice delivery, Arẹgbẹsọla noted that his case on the restoration of his stolen mandate in 2007 activated the judiciary to peg the conclusion of election cases to a year.
The former governor of Osun State said timely dispensation of justice on criminal cases would not only reduce the number of awaiting trial inmates and decongest the correctional facilities but will also save the service a lot of money.
Speaking on the condition of correctional facilities in the country, Aregbesola said that beyond the law, attitudinal change is required from the society and personnel of the Nigeria Correctional Service to drive the needed reform.
According to him, the majority of members of the society do not have the correct understanding of what the correction centres should be, saying this was responsible for some negative comments on some issues involving activities of the NCoS personnel.
ALSO READ FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE
- Nurse Holds Doctor Hostage In OAU Teaching Hospital, Resident Doctors Plan Strike
- Woman’s Corpse, Unconscious Man Found Inside Office In Aba After Four Days
- Hoodlums Attack Lagos Governor’s Press Crew Bus In Tinubu’s Convoy, Two Injured
- [BREAKING] #EkitiDecides2022: INEC Declares APC’s Biodun Oyebanji Winner Of Guber Poll
- Top 10 Business Ideas In Nigeria You Can Start With 100,000 Naira
- 2023: Kwankwaso Will Not Be Deputy To Obi —NNPP
Aregbesola who bemoaned what he described as the unbefitting status of some of the correctional facilities urged the NCoS personnel to mobilise community efforts to change the facial appearance of their facilities.
He lamented some of the correctional facilities are dampening the morale of the officers and damaging the psychology of the inmates.
The minister spoke on the need to make the correctional facilities centres for rebuilding inmates through standard operating procedures and improved welfare for both the inmates and the NCos personnel.
Speaking at the event, immediate past Minister of Interior, Gen. Abdulrahman Danbazau, said it is a necessity for Nigeria as a country to meet up with international standards on the treatment of inmates and the facilities hosting them.
Danbazau maintained that though Nigeria is making progress on prison reform, there is still the need to continue advocacy for the decongestion of correctional centres.
He said congestion of correction centres is a major challenge that must be permanently addressed.