JAILBREAKS IN CORRECTIONAL CENTRES

In five months 3,837 prisoners have been illegally freed from Nigeria correctional centres. In five months, 10 correctional centres have been attacked. In November, 2020 while counting the costs of the #EndSARS protests, Information Minister Lai Mohammed had said eight prisons were attacked, “with 1,957 inmates set free and 31 staff injured.” But Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has assured that the federal government would strengthen security at correctional centres across the country. Osinbajo gave the assurance while addressing newsmen at the Owerri Custodial Centre, Imo state, after inspecting the facility to ascertain the extent of damage by hoodlums who attacked the centre on Monday, April 5, 2021.

The vice president who condemned the attacks on the correctional centre and the Police Headquarters in Owerri said the security architecture of the country would be rejigged. He further assured that all those responsible for the attacks would be uncovered and made to face the full wrath of the law.

Rauf Aregbesola, Minister of Interior is bringing reliable field-proven technology backed by professional expertise to safeguard correctional facilities and detention centres across Nigeria as soon as funds are made available. The technology will enable guards to monitor and track inmates, detect illegal activities, isolate and control violent incidents and prevent intrusion to secure correctional centres. But finance is the major problem of Aregbesola to execute his security plans for Nigeria correctional centres.

The federal government is putting in place enhanced security measures in correctional centres, a slew of advanced equipment to further strengthen the existing arrangements. Aregbesola has planned for security-related gadgets such as scanners, cell phone jammers and closed circuit television cameras, besides walkie-talkie sets for faster communication.

Alongside improving security measures, the federal government is also putting in place many innovative schemes in correctional centres aimed at rehabilitating inmates and turning them into productive citizens upon their release.

Just when many Nigerians thought the worst threat to the nation’s security in recent times was over with the cessation of the #EndSARS protests, some events in the last few weeks seem to suggest that the situation is not about to improve yet. Kidnapping, armed robbery, and other forms of banditry have escalated, culminating in the April 5, 2021 attack on the Owerri Correctional Centre by yet to be identified gunmen.

The hoodlums not only set free 1880 inmates of the centre, they set the building and several cars on the premises ablaze. They had apparently taken their cue from the invasion of the Benin Correctional Centre in the thick of the #EndSARS protests during which 1957 inmates were let loose. A similar attack on the Ikoyi Correctional Centre in Lagos was resisted by security forces.

Most of the freed inmates are hardened criminals. Some have returned to what they know how to do well: crime. He decried the spate of attacks on correctional facilities, warning that there may be more of such as in future.

However, the authorities of the Nigeria Correctional Service (NCS) say they are doing everything possible to fortify security at their facilities across the country.

Sophisticated weapons, Armored Personnel Carriers (APC) and others have been acquired to prevent further attacks, the Public Relations Officers (PRO), Francis Enobore, told The Nation. Enobore said the service is working with other security agencies to prevent attacks on correctional facilities. He said the service is currently facing the issue of encroachment, which is hindering security operatives from protecting some correctional centers. His words: “We have means of generating intelligence and also preventing crisis within or outside. We are increasing our collaboration with other sister security organizations across the country. They are increasing their personnel on ground for us. We have been able to reach out to heads of other security organizations and they have responded favorably.

“They have also provided Armored Personnel Carriers (APC) and some other sophisticated weapons that can help us to fortify correctional facilities. For intelligence gathering, the services involved have also been forthcoming. We are increasing our reach and collaboration to ensure that these incidents do not occur again. Some of these facilities that have been attacked, they are located in areas that are now surrounded by private developers. These correctional facilities are supposed to have what we call buffer areas. And the buffer area is not supposed to be less than 200 meters round the correctional facilities…

“We have been begging those that have built illegal buildings all over the place, and if you talk to them they run to court to get injunction, when the hard times comes, they may end up taking the bullet. So, these are avenues that we are employing to ensure that this crisis does not happen again and we have plans to relocate these facilities to a more conducive environment.”

Inwalomhe Donald, Owerri, Imo State