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Abdulrazaq Mungadi, Gombe
The controller in charge of Nigeria Correctional Service (NSC) in Gombe state, Ahmadu Adamu, has called on the governor of Gombe state and members of the state house of assembly to consider inmate while planning policies and programs for citizens and residents in the state.
He said the inmates most be taken care of because they are in NSC custody for correction, rehabilitation, deradicalization and possible reintegration into the society.
The controller who spoke through the head of Gombe legal and human rights desk of the commission, Yakubu Chidama, as representative of security agencies at an event marking the 2019 Anti-corruption Day on Monday in Gombe revealed that NSC facilities in the state are faced with lots of challenges that needs the attention of the state government.
“The system is made for corrections, because we don’t just keep people in custody without achieving anything, because one day the people in custody must leave that facility and come back to the society. So it is important that the correction starts immediately somebody is taken into custody,” he said.
The controller, Adamu also revealed that the commission is faced with threats of reintegrating inmates back to the society the way they were taken in, due to lack of training facilities and adequate infrastructure. He also revealed that congestion is also problem being face by the commission in Gombe.
He called on the state governor, the legislative arm of the government and other stakeholders in the state look in the area of decongesting the facilities so as to properly plan for the inmates who are mostly citizens of the state. According to him over 90 percent of inmates in custody across the state are from Gombe.
“We have to make sure that the inmates are fully engaged in reformation, deradicalized and equipped with skills that would keep them busy before reintegration. In most cases inmates narrates their reasons for committing offence and blame it on redundancy and lack of job,” Adamu told Daily Sun.
While revealing the effectiveness of the correctional service the controller however, lamented that the challenges confront the service are energise, hence he appealed to the state government. He said: “I appealed to the governor and members of the state house of assembly that whenever they are sharing anything or making laws they should not exclude those in custody, because over 90 percent of the inmates are Gombe indigene but in most cases what they are doing in and for the public does not gets down to those in custody”.
