Suleja jailbreak: Custodial centres need urgent reforms.

THE recent collapse of part of the Medium Security Custodial Centre, Suleja, Niger State, underscores the depth of decay plaguing the Nigerian Correctional Service system. Beyond a simplistic name change from the Nigerian Prisons Service to the NCoS in 2019, the government must embark on urgent infrastructure and other reforms to decongest the custodial centres.

Nigeria lost significantly during the collapse on April 24. Overnight, torrential rainfall wreaked havoc on the centre, where 119 inmates exploited the damaged walls to escape. Although 14 inmates were recaptured by security agents, the remaining 105, including hardened criminals, are on the loose. They pose a danger to society.

Most of the custodial centres are old and vulnerable to attacks by gunmen, who set criminals and bandits free. Consequently, jailbreaks have occurred in Owerri, Imo State, Kuje in the FCT, Kabba and Koton Karfe in Kogi, Abolongo in Oyo, Jos in Plateau, Mandala in Kwara, Ijebu-Ode, Ogun, and Agbor in Delta State in the recent past.

The NCoS lists over 570 escapees from its facilities. In July 2022, 64 hardened Boko Haram terrorists were part of the horde that escaped from the Medium Security Custodial Centre after a deadly assault by Islamic terrorists.

Most of the custodial centres were built in the colonial era. They were meant to accommodate a limited number of inmates, especially political activists, and petty criminals.

For many years, the custodial centres have been stretched beyond their structural limits. The congestion, lack of adequate ventilation, and lack of basic amenities dehumanise the inmates. It gives room for the intermingling of hardened criminals, first-time offenders, and awaiting trial inmates.

The intended corrective measure of excluding convicted criminals from society and restricting their freedom of movement and association often fails.

In 2018, former Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo, during the presentation of the Nigerian Prisons Survey Report, lamented that the prisons could not reform the character of any criminal but could only convert humans to animals.