Minister of the Interior, Olubunmi Tunji Ojo, in a recent duty round, told reporters that the Federal Government was considering removing the Ikoyi Prisons and others like it located deeply in populated urban areas to new locations.
This has sparked heated debates on the social media. Critics feel that government wants to move these correctional centres to areas where the masses live, thus shifting the apparent danger to the common people. The Minister in a television interview, complained of urban encroachment on these facilities.
Almost, if not all, our prisons were built by the British colonial rulers. They tailored prison policies to their needs, ensuring that the facilities were built close to areas of strong government forces' presence in case of security crises.
Ikoyi Prison was built in 1955. About 70 years ago, much of the surrounding areas were bushland. Today, Ikoyi is easily the nation's uppermost real estate, with a lot of expatriate and diplomatic residents. President Bola Tinubu's mansion is on Bourdillon Road, Ikoyi. Ojo is worried about what could become of the security of the district should the force majeure that befell 110-year-old Suleja Prisons take place there.
The same uncontrolled urbanisation that brought private houses just seven metres away from the walls of the Suleja Prisons (instead of the minimum 100 metres) is replicated around most other urban prisons nationwide. Definitely, some of these prisons need to be moved to less-populated areas.
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However, what matters most is the security of a prison facility. Security also includes the impregnability of the prison fences. The walls of the Kuje Prisons were bombed by Boko Haram terrorists in July 2022, and over 400 inmates escaped. Suleja Prison walls collapsed after a heavy rain. Nigeria is simply not serious about criminal justice administration.
What we really need is beyond mere relocation of some urban correctional centres. When experts say that our security architecture needs restructuring, they often mean that after 64 years of independence, Nigeria is overdue for a total rethinking of its security system.
The colonialists understandably ran a centralised unitary system before handing over a federal template to Nigerians. Rather than follow through with the federalisation programme, subsequent civilian and military rulers maintained the centralised commands, which are no longer adequate for our contemporary needs.
We need to empower the sub-national governments, especially the states and even local communities, to establish some grades of correctional centres in order to foster genuine correction. The Federal Government cannot even effectively maintain its albeit inadequate 256 prisons.
Just as the Federal and State governments share powers on the Legislature, Executive and Judiciary, this should be extended to policing and correctional aspect of criminal justice administration.
Ojo's prisons relocation idea will be mere palliatives. We need a comprehensive approach to this issue.
