"NIGERIAN PRISON SERVICE CAPACITY BUILDING OF PRISON PERSONNEL TO BE A TOP PRIORITY" - Dr. PETER EKPENDU

Posted by on
The Controller General of Prisons, Dr Peter Ekpendu, (mni) has promised to strengthen capacity development of his workforce to enable the Prisons address some of the perennial problems facing the Service. He said this during a national retreat on Development of the Nigerian Prisons Service Training and Capacity Building Strategic plan for 2015 – 2020 held in Rockview Hotel Abuja.
The programme which was co-sponsored by Prisoners’ Rehabilitation and Welfare Action (PRAWA) attracted a number of development partners from DFID, UNODC, ICRC, Swiss Embassy, US Embassy, British High Commission, UNICEF, Open Society Justice Initiative (OSJI), etc. The Prison boss noted that the collaboration of donor agencies was needed to develop a process that will help set the reform agenda of the Nigerian Prisons Service, identify and encourages support for the implementation of intervention strategies in a coordinated and sustainable manner over the short, medium and long term.

Relating Prison institutions to societal development, the prison boss noted that correction facilities are established to keep out of circulation those acting outside the law in order to create the needed environment for social economic interaction to thrive.

However, such incarceration is expected to accommodate safety and humaneness because every prisoner has a date with the society – the day of release. Therefore a comprehensive package of reformation, rehabilitation and reintegration is of utmost importance in order to guarantee safe return to the society and reduce incidence of re-offending. The primary areas of interest thrown open for discussion include, strengthening personnel capacity in the following areas: Human Rights and Treatment of Prisoners; Reformation, Rehabilitation and Reintegration of Prisoners; Management of Pre-Trial Detainees; Drug Abuse Prevention and Treatment; Statistics/Data Management; Communicable and Non-Communicable Diseases including HIV/AIDS, Mental Health, Tuberculosis; Security and Management of Terrorists and other High Risk Offenders; Management of Young Offenders, Women and Babies in Prison and other Vulnerable Prisoners.

As usual the problem that kept resonating was management of pre-trial detainees which presently constitute over 72% of the Prison inmate population in Nigeria. Statistics has it that the Nigerian Prisons Service has a total of about 65,000, out of which 72% are awaiting trial and only 28% convicted members. Although female members constitute 2%, their care is still a challenge due to the peculiarities of some coming with pregnancy, babies or even putting to bed while in prison.

The society will no doubt be a safer place if offenders are assisted to be of value first to themselves, their immediate families and then to the society at large.

Comments

Post a Comment

Drop your comments. Thank you

NOW ON SALE WORLDWIDE!!!!!! THE FOUR STONES - The Battle of the Four Realms - BY UCHECHUKWU DANIEL

MORE COMMUNITY HEADLINES

Image

PHOTO: LORAL INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL WINS 2017 AFRICA TOP SCHOOL AWARD

AFRICA Brands Review, an integrated marketing service company, has named Loral International Schools (LIS), Lagos & Osun States, as winner of “2017 Africa Top Schools Award (Platinum Category), as one of the top 10 schools in the country, and one of the best international schools in Africa. The award, it was disclosed, stems from among other things, the school’s ratings in the 2017 West African Senior Secondary School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) results. To arrive at this, the firm said it compared how secondary schools across the country performed, and thereafter rated the top 1, 000 schools. It was after this that it bestowed the award in May 2017 on LIS. The events brochure of the Africa Top 1, 000 School Award is to be distributed to embassies of various Africa countries and libraries of institutions of higher learning and blue chip companies. Free copies are to be sent to all participating schools on the continent. “We didn’t apply for any
Image

NIGERIA PRISON SERVICE RESPONDS TO FRAUDULENT MINDS

It has come to the notice of the authorities of the Nigerian Prison Service that some unscrupulous syndicates are going about with fake contract documents relating to prisons ration and gas supply as well as fake appointment letters into the service. The Nigerian Prisons Service hereby issues this notice: That the NPS does not sell contract documents whether for ration/gas supply or other services to prospective contractor(s) and could not have authorized any individual or organization inside or outside the service to do so on its behalf. That the service does not use agents(s), syndicate(s) or private individual(s) to carry out recruitment of personnel into the service and does not sell recruitment form to job seekers.   The Nigerian Prison Service therefore wishes to disassociate itself from illicit dealings and shall be held liable for any such transaction with fraudsters masquerading as agents working for or on behalf of the NPS. Whoever engages in any form of business or t
Image

WORLD'S OLDEST MAN DIES AT 116 IN SOUTH AFRICA

                   Fredie Blom - seen here on his 116th birthday - said there was no special secret to his longevity A South African who was thought to be the oldest man in the world has died at the age of 116. Fredie Blom's identity documents showed he was born in Eastern Cape province in May 1904, although that was never verified by Guinness World Records. When he was a teenager, his entire family was wiped out by the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic. He went on to survive two world wars and apartheid. Mr Blom told the BBC in 2018 that there was no special secret to his longevity . "There's only one thing - it's the man above [God]. He's got all the power. I have nothing. I can drop over any time but He holds me," he said. Mr Blom spent most of his life as a labourer - first on a farm and then in the construction industry - and only retired when he was in his 80s.   Fredie Blom's identity documents list his date of birth as 8 May 1904 Although he gave up drinki
Image

11 PASSENGERS ESCAPE MOTOR ACCIDENT ON LAGOS-IBADAN EXPRESWAY

  By Jesusegun Alagbe and Oluwatosin Omojuyigbe Eleven people escaped death by a whisker on Wednesday after a Honda CR-V Sport Utility Vehicle ran into an 18-seater commercial bus on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.  The accident occurred close to the headquarters of Punch Nigeria Limited in Magboro, Ogun State.