Controller Seeks Govt’s Assistance In Prison Decongestion

The Controller, Nigeria Prisons Service, Enugu Command, Mr Chris Ntewo, has solicited the state government’s assistance in decongesting the three prisons in the area.

Ntewo told newsmen in Enugu on Monday that the congestion was largely caused by the slow criminal justice administration in the state, which frustrated speedy prosecution of cases.

Ntewo said more than 90 per cent of the inmates of the three prisons under the command were awaiting trial, with some of them being in detention for about seven years.

He urged the state government to put appropriate measures in place to facilitate speedy trial of suspects to decongest the prisons.

Ntewo said the intervention of the Chief Judge of the state, Justice Innocent Umezulike, had already resulted in some improvement, stressing that the tempo should be sustained to clear the backlog of cases.

He noted that the Enugu Prison, with a capacity for 638 inmates, was currently accommodating 1,515 inmates, while Nsukka Prison, with a capacity for 186 inmates, current had 295 inmates.

The controller said the Oji River Prison currently accommodates 194 inmates, far above its capacity for 80 inmates.

“People may not understand it, but the number keeps increasing, and we don’t have the power to say no, once someone is brought to the prison.

“The primary duty of every prison officer is to receive, keep inmates in safe custody and produce them in court on demand.”

Ntewo explained that as a result of the number of inmates awaiting trial in the prisons, the management had embarked on a various training programmes for them, including further studies at the National Open University, to help them to be useful to the society when they regained their freedom.

He said that a study center opened last year in collaboration with the National Open University, the Federal Government and some NGOs, now had 13 inmates in various fields of study.

Ntewo said some of the inmates were students before they were involved in problems that landed them in police custody.

He explained that the study centre was opened to enable the inmates who were in school to continue with their education while awaiting trial, noting that the programme had enjoyed popular acceptance by the inmates.

Ntewo added that the command had created an opportunity for inmates who had not completed their secondary education to enroll for their NECO, noting that 38 of them took part in the last NECO examinations.

He appealed to NGOs and other Nigerians to assist the prison authorities in paying the school fees of the affected inmates, saying that NOUN had yet to given them any concession.