Prison Decongestion: Presidential Panel Releases 122 Children from Ilorin Borstal Home

Alex Enumah in Abuja

A total of 122 children have been released on the orders of the Presidential Committee on Correctional Reform and Decongestion from the Borstal Training Institute, Ilorin, Kwara State.

Chairman of the Committee and former Chief Judge of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court, Justice Ishaq Bello, facilitated the release of the children during their visit to the Borstal Institute.

The committee was on a visit to conduct on-the-spot assessment and condition of juveniles in the Institution for the Presidential Committee on Correctional Reforms and Decongestion.

The Federal Ministry of Justice in collaboration of UNODC and UNICEF deployed a Technical Team of 10 persons to the Borstal Institute, Ilorin, just as the team assessed a total of 225 students of the Institution, a statement by the Deputy Director Information, Ministry of Justice, Mrs. Modupe Ogundoro, said on Thursday.

The statement said Bello, who frowned at the living condition and welfare of the children noted that the institute was congested due to non-compliance to lay down entry qualification for admission.

During the visit, the committee observed from the document made available by the Institute, that there were discrepancies in the admission of children, which flouted the purpose for which it was established.

He recalled that the institute was established as reformation and rehabilitation Centre to accommodate children between the ages of 16 to 21 years and not to be used as dumping ground.

The Committee during the visit, found out that the institute also housed underaged children and adult, among whom were in secondary school, undergraduates and graduates.

“The qualifying age of admission is 16- 21 years. Anybody above 24 years has outgrown their stay and not fit for the Institute. It is a breach of extant law establishing the Institute”.

In her opening remarks, the Acting Director, Administration of Criminal Justice and Reform/ Secretary to the Committee, Mrs. Leticia Ayoola-Daniels, said the visit to the Institute was aimed at providing psychological support to the juveniles for proper re-integration into the society, when released in the near future.

Mrs. Ayoola-Daniels explained that the children released would undergo re-unification with their families and post-monitoring for an effective reintegration, which could be achieved through the support of the Ministry of Women Affairs, Kwara State, UNICEF, and other relevant Kwara State Justice Stakeholder Institutions.