Follow Us on Google
Linus Oota, Lafia
Nasarawa State comptroller of the Nigerian prisons, now correctional service, Mr Emmanuel Emerald Okoro said the new prison law assented to by President Muhammadu Buhari would witness the necessary reforms.
He said the new law under Section 12 (8) empowers the state comptrollers of correctional service to reject intake of additional inmates where the facility under his watch is filled to the capacity.
Speaking to journalists recently in his office in Lafia during the weekend on the attempted jail break in Keffi prison, Mr Okoro debunked the allegations that prisoners in Keffi were feed with sachets of pure water and that the facilities were in bad condition.
He explained that the Keffi prison is among the best in the country with adequate medical facilities, other infrastructures with good and steady feeding system with varieties of food for the inmates.
He said that the new law also made strong case for the minor offenders instead of sending them to already overcrowded jails by administering community service, parole and mediation between the offender and the offended, noting that minors or people convicted for petty crimes can avoid prison.
With the newly-signed law, the Nigeria prison service, had its name changed to the Nigerian Correctional Service to reflect and satisfy the yearnings of the concerned stakeholders for reformation of the prisons.
The Nigerian prisons had been heavily criticised for their overcrowded state and poor condition.
