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Christopher Oji
Assistant Inspector-General of Police, Zone 2, Onikan, Lagos, Shehu Lawal, has advised prisons officials to always inform the police whenever they want to release inmates to the public for proper monitoring.
Lawal, who gave the advice at the weekend during official visit to his office by Controller of Prisons (CP), Ailewon Noel, said it was important to monitor inmates who have either finished their punishment or are given amnesty, as some released inmates would not change for good, but become more formidable in crime.
“It will be dangerous to release an unrepentant criminal to the public without the knowledge of the police. Our investigation has shown that some people are born habitual criminal. There are those whom crime runs in their blood, but there are others who were forced into crime by the environment. We are interested in those that crime runs in their blood; they are evils that must be monitored by the police. We have a mechanism that we use to monitor such persons. There is no good name attached to criminals. A criminal is greedy; he wants to get more. When the police arrest them, we call them suspects. In the Court, they are called the accused, and after prosecution, they are handed them over to the prison, which keeps them.
“Our prayer is that a convicted prisoner will change in the prisons, but I must confess to you that no police man is comfortable when a convict is released. Many of them claim they are born again, but inside them they have become more hardened. The worst of it all is when there is jailbreak. Once there is jailbreak, everyone, including the police is in trouble. The police are their first target because they see us as their enemies, since we confront them when they commit crime. We engage them in gun battle and for that, they are not happy with us. That is why we always plead with the public to give us information when they see criminals in their areas. Criminals live with the public. They don’t live in the moon. They have landlords and neighbours, yet the public is covering them. Some of the criminal elements even give alms to people. They do charity works and people know that they are criminals, yet they cover them. People also vote for them during elections.
“That is why we are proud of the prisons official who keep them out of the public. I give kudos to the prison officials. They are like animal keepers, keeping criminals out of circulation. The prison is the only agency that assists the police in keeping the criminals out of circulation. The police do not rest. We are under the rain and in the sun chasing criminals, especially armed robbers. Once we get information that they are operating, we will never rest until we get them out of the street. Sometimes, the unexpected may happen as one or more of our men get killed; yet we are blamed for not doing enough. That is why we see prison service as our best friend, because they keep the criminals out the streets. Sometimes, we get real information about criminals from the prisons. During interrogation, criminals deny their offences, but in the prisons, they open up to inmates and the prison wardens. When a particular crime is committed and we approach the prisons, they will be able to analyse the crime and tell us those who they suspect. We have symbiotic relationship with the prisons service. We want the cordial relationship to continue.”
