Senator Adams Oshiomhole has lamented the quality of feeding for inmates in Nigerian prisons, saying dogs in the correctional facilities are better fed.
Oshiomhole, who heads the Senate Committee on Interior, criticised the feeding practices at the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS), emphasising the need for correctional facilities to focus on rehabilitation rather than subjecting inmates to dehumanising conditions.
He spoke on Thursday during a budget defense session where the NCoS Controller General Haliru Nababa said N750 is budgeted for feeding an inmate daily while security dogs in the facilities have a daily budget of N800 each.
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But shocked by the revelation, Oshiomhole, who represents Edo North, wondered how inmates could be fed with such an amount.
“You feed that presumed innocent president with N750 a day and N250 per meal. And then the dog, you feed the dog with at least N800 a day,” he said.
“One thing has come out is that an unconvicted Nigerian is being fed with N750 and you feed each of the dogs under your care with N800 per day. So, a dog is better fed in the Nigerian prison than an innocent Nigerian in your (NCoS) custody.”
The former governor raised policy concerns, questioning whether the government intended to allocate more funds for the nutrition of animals than for human beings in custody.
He called for a reevaluation of this policy, emphasising the importance of prioritising the welfare of incarcerated individuals.
“It is a policy issue. Whether it is the intention of the government to appropriate money to feed animals than to feed human beings. It is a major policy issue for us,” he maintained
During the presentation of the 2023 budget to the joint committee, General Haliru said that the service had requested a review of the daily feeding allowance for inmates from N750 to N3,000.
However, as of the presentation, there had been no approval for the proposed increase.
In response, the NCoS appealed to the National Assembly for assistance in approving the proposed increment for the feeding of the 81,354 inmates nationwide, with 53,352 awaiting trial.
