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Federal Government Begins Audit of Inmates to Decongest Custodial Centres

Written by Jerry Alomatu on June 14, 2024

News Views: 45

Abuja — The Federal Government has initiated an extensive audit of inmates across the 256 Custodial Centres in Nigeria. This initiative, led by the Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, aims to decongest overcrowded facilities.

A statement released on Friday by the Minister’s Media Assistant, Alao Babatunde, highlighted that the audit is part of a broader strategy to address the challenges within the country’s correctional system. The announcement followed Tunji-Ojo’s inspection of the ongoing construction of a 3,000-capacity Maximum Security Custodial Centre in Janguza, Kano State, and the Medium Security Custodial Centre in Kuje, Abuja.

Empirical Approach to Decongestion

The Minister emphasized the scientific and data-driven nature of the audit process. “The audit is ongoing but the good thing for me is that we did a facility audit earlier and we can see that the result of the facility audit is how we are intervening,” Tunji-Ojo said.

He continued, “We are very empirical and scientific in our approach. We don’t just throw solutions to unknown problems. We discover the problems, we know the root cause of issues, then we find solutions to them.”

Tunji-Ojo underscored the role of data in the audit process, describing it as the “new oil” and the “blood of life” in the current era. He explained that understanding the status of the inmates through detailed data would lead to significant decongestion of the Custodial Centres.

“So, the audit system is being empirical. It is scientific and that will lead massively to the decongestion of our Custodial Centres. It is not just saying you want to decongest. It is about you knowing the status. Life is all about data. Data is the new oil. Data is the blood of life in this millennium,” he stated.

During the visit to the Kuje facility, Minister Tunji-Ojo received a set of three books authored by an inmate who has been at the correctional centre for 12 years. This gesture highlights the ongoing efforts to reform and rehabilitate inmates within the system.

The government’s audit initiative aligns with previous exercises aimed at assessing and improving conditions in correctional centres nationwide. This structured approach is expected to bring about tangible improvements and significantly reduce the strain on Nigeria’s custodial infrastructure.