February 27, 2015 by Emeka
Controller-General of Prisons, Dr. Peter Ekpendu
The
Controller General of Prisons, Peter Ekpendu, has said the issue of
prison congestion is as a result of the large number of awaiting-trial
inmates in the nation’s prisons.
He added that the notion that all the
prisons in Nigeria were congested was not true, saying that the
situation was only peculiar to prisons in the urban areas.
Ekpendu made the statement during an
interactive session with journalists in the course of an inspection tour
of the Kirikiri Prisons in Lagos on Thursday.
According to him, the issue of
decongesting the prison is a matter for the criminal justice system
since the duty of the Nigeria Prisons Service is to keep inmates in
custody and produce them when needed in court.
He said, “Probably the press is trying
to publicise the idea that our prisons are congested. Actually, the
congestion is skewed in favour of those prisons in the cities. Across
board, you will find out that the congestion is in terms of the large
number of awaiting-trial inmates and as much as possible, decongesting
the prisons will require the collaborative efforts of the criminal
justice system – the courts, ministry of justice and the departments for
public prosecutions.
“Our job is to keep the inmates and
produce them in court when needed, but for the dispensation of their
cases, we are engaging the ministry of justice to see how they can
assist us in that regard.”
Ekpendu also pledged the commitment of
his administration as Controller of Prisons to stem the tide of prison
breaks across the country and improve security in the nation’s prisons.
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