Former Controller of Correctional Centre, Zonal Headquarters, Makurdi, Benue State, Mr. Hassan Abdullahi Shema, has identified factors that will transform correctional centres in the country. Shema, who was the initiator of the Prison Armed Squad, said the centres need a lot of reforms to take to the next level.
He said in Abuja that when he was zonal headquarters controller, he “trained over 100 personnel at Mobile Training School, Maiduguri, Borno State. The welfare of the personnel needs to be repackaged to bring back the morale of the officers.
“There should be I a training and re-training project for the inmates at Owerri, Imo State, with modern technology. Factories should be established in different zones that will engage inmates in vocations like soap making, electrical and electronics and in farming such as fisheries and poultry. This will generate huge revenue for the government and the correctional centres.
“Inmates should be involved in rice farming and drilling. A factory should be established to produce shoes and uniforms for the military and paramilitary.
“The correctional centres should be attached to the Institute of Technology, London, United Kingdom, Institute of Administrative Managers of Nigeria and other relevant bodies to take the centres to an enviable level.
“To dis-congest the prisons, inmates need skill acquisition during and after their jail terms. This should form part of the blueprint to uplift the Nigerian Correctional Centre, its personnel, officers and men.
“When I was in Kaduna, we were able to re-package the prisons. We trained officers on how to conduct themselves in public. We also exposed them to modern technology. These kinds of reforms should be reintroduced in the correctional centres.”