NGO stages theatre training, production for prison inmates

A Non Governmental Organisation (NGO), Ola Alabi Foundation, has announced a prison concert/theatre exhibition which would be done only by prison inmates at the Ibadan Agodi prisons. Speaking with Friday Treat, Ola Alabi, the initiator of the The Independent Prisoners Rehabilitation Organisation (IPRO), said, “It is with great pleasure and honour that we introduce to the public the rehabilitation revolution. The initiative is aimed at empowering both inmates and ex-inmates through welfare provision, education and vocational training.

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“The rehabilitation of offenders is a key feature of any modern criminal justice system, and work to rehabilitate prisoners should be taken very seriously, in varying degrees, in every prison. Rehabilitation should not only be directed at ‘reforming the character’ of prisoners, its focus should also be on preventing their return to prison.

“Our aim is to rehabilitate prisoners, provide educational platform for prisoners and ex-prisoners, provide trainings through vocational institution to prisoners and ex-prisoners, provide welfare for ex-prisoners and provide former inmates with accommodation. Thousands of prisoners are released every year without anywhere to live, worsening problems of homelessness. Majority doesn’t know where and how to start, resulting into going back to crime. Many former inmates experience considerable difficulty reintegrating into society because of the attitudes of others. The stigma of imprisonment and long”, he said.

The event will hold at the Agodi prisons on the 18th of December with guests invited from all walks of life.