Minister of Interior Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo says last year’s attack on the Kuje Correctional Centre in Abuja is a national security issue and that the Federal Government is on top of it.
On the night of July 5, 2022, the prison was attacked by suspected Boko Haram terrorists who freed hundreds of inmates, including all 64 insurgents who had been incarcerated.
However, other inmates, including embattled DCP Abba Kyari, who is under trial on money laundering charges, did not escape, according to the Chief Superintendent of Corrections, Umar Abubakar.
Tunji-Ojo, who spoke on Wednesday during a live appearance on Channels Television’s Politics Today, noted that the government had the situation under control.
Asked to give an update since the attack, the minister said, “These are national security issues with gross implications on our collective security. So, these are not issues I will be able to discuss on camera, but I tell you, government is on top of it and we have it under control.”
On the overpopulation of correction centres across the nation, he noted that there are ongoing efforts to decongest the facilities.
“We’ve looked at the roll and we discovered that we have 4,000 of the inmates in due to their inability to pay fines. So, we have been able to separate that,” he said.
“We’re already working with some CSOs, some agencies, and some companies as a matter of CSR just to be able to see how we can sort that out. So, we’re already working on that at least to be able to get these 4,000 out of the correctional service.”
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According to him, there are approximately 70,000 inmates nationwide.
He noted that more than 80 percent of inmates are state offenders as opposed to federal offenders, adding that the Federal Ministry of Interior has to collaborate with the state governments.
Explaining that the correctional services are on the concurrent list, not the exclusive list, Tunji-Ojo stated that a committee had been set up to look into the congestion problems.
“I can assure you that we’ll come up with verifiable steps and action plan in due course,” he promised.
Prison Service Vs Correctional Service
The minister explained that one of the differences between the prison service and the correctional service was the introduction of non-custodial centres.
“This is something we’re already working on. We have done our homework as a ministry and we will take it up to the appropriate level,” he said.
“From our own anticipation and estimation, if we’re able to introduce the non-custodial services, we should be able to further decongest our correctional centres by 43 percent. That brings the number of inmates that we will have to about 42,000.
“That brings it down a bit more and it helps us to solve the problem of congestion and overcrowding of our correctional centres.”
