Abuja — Out of 405 inmates currently at the Suleja Correctional Center, 168 of them are said to be persons "Awaiting Trial".
Deputy Controller of the Correctional Center, Mr. Ibrahim Yau, made the disclosure during a visit by the Legal Aid Council of Nigeria (LACoN).
The visit by the Unit in Charge of decongestion at LACoN's headquarters in Abuja, was to provide free legal services to inmates awaiting trials but without legal representation.
The team headed by Oliver Chukwuma, besides offering legal counseling where necessary would and at the end ensure access to justice to those concerned by following up on their matter to various courts within FCT and environs.
In a statement by LACoN's spokesperson, Mrs. Amaka Agbaih, the Deputy Controller, who has just been promoted to the rank of Controller of Correctional Service, appreciated the council for their efforts at ensuring the release of inmates at the custodial center.
Yau, while commending the Council, pointed out that the facility at the center, "has the capacity for 250 inmates but have been stretched to 405 with 168 as awaiting trials inmates".
He went further to say that running of the custodial center is not easy judging from what is presently obtainable in the country.
Yau, therefore expressed gratitude to various NGOs and individuals who have been helping them since government cannot do it alone.
Meanwhile, the controller lamented about the poor daily feeding allowance which he said is not sufficient to provide decent meals for the inmates and appealed to the team to always try and make impact where ever they found themselves.
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Responding, Chukwuma assured that the council will continue to do the needful to see that all correctional centres are decongested in line with their major mandate.
He called for the introduction of virtual hearing so as to drastically reduce the cost of running custodial centres.
Earlier, the team also interacted with their old clients and briefed them on the stage of their case so that those for bail could do the needful in order to meet up with their bail conditions.
"A total of 32 inmates were interviewed during this visit and the previous one before now. The age bracket of the inmates ranged from 18-35 while the nature of their offences include theft, joint negligence, trespass, conspiracy, criminal breach of trust and misappropriation", the statement said in part.
The statement further commended the center for encouraging inmates to embrace education, noting that in 2023 about 35 inmates registered and sat for both WAEC and NECO while, about 25 of them will be writing this year.
The statement disclosed that the reduction in number was due to lack of funds.
"The open university is also available and currently have 30 inmates as students though, because of the ongoing renovation work and expansion the students have been moved to Kuje Correctional Centre pending when the work will be over.
"The council observed that a stronger and more fortified security fence has been constructed around the perimeter of the facility to avert repeat of an ugly incident and also forestall against jail break in the future," it further stated.
