THERE is no doubt that the Nigerian Prisons are among the most congested prisons in the world. From the Maximum Security Prisons to the Female Prison, the story is the same! And from the records available, there is no state in the federation that does not have a prison formation; whether it is the Maximum Security Prison, Medium Security Prison, Satellite Prison, Borstal Institution for Juveniles, Farm Centre, Open Prison Camp and Female Prison, every state of the federation including the Federal Capital Territory has a share of the 240 prisons holding facilities across the nation.
However, the horrifying state of our prisons was exposed recently when the Minister of Interior, Retired Lieutenant- General Abdurrahman Bello Dambazau visited the New Keffi Prisons where Governor Tanko Umaru Almakura of Nasarawa State paid the fines of 78 prison inmates for them to regain their freedom. For the records, the Keffi Prison was built in 2009 with a carrying capacity of 160 inmates. But, due to what some would describe as ‘Nigerian factor’ the prison currently has 586 inmates scrambling for available space.
The fact is that even animals cannot live in such a debilitating environment let alone human beings! This was why the Minister called on other state governors to emulate the Nasarawa State helms- man by helping to pay the fines of some of the inmates who have being convicted by the court. His words: ‘’There are quite a number of these inmates who do not have the ability to pay their fines. It does not make any economic or logistic sense to continue to keep them here and also feeding them just because they cannot pay the meagre fines given to them as options… It is a waste of human efforts and resources to continue to keep them because the money spent on their feeding far outweighs the fines imposed on them.’’
In lieu of the foregoing, other state governors should find it worthy in partnering with the Federal Government on prison decongestion by helping to renovate and build modern farm centre in their respective states. It will be recalled that only recently, the Minister of Interior, General Dambazau ordered the authority of the Nigerian Prison Service to reopen the moribund farm projects it maintained in Maximum Security Prisons in the past which were closed down due to paucity of funds. The directive was given so that the correctional services of the Nigerian Prison could be re- stored in line with the change mantra of President Muhammadu Buhari.
Besides, overcrowded or congested prison has negative effects on inmates as research has shown that it creates competition for limited resources among inmates, increases hostility, escalates the rates of illness or epidemic diseases, suicide and proclivity to recidivism which sometimes result in Prison breaks.
Also, the rationale behind the Minister’s directive may not be unconnected with recent development where inmates who finished their ja
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