FG commissions 20-bedspace COVID-19 hospital in Ilesa

By Jeleel Olawale

The Federal Government has  commissioned a 20-Bedspace COVID-19 hospital, equipment and generating plant for medical concerns of inmates and Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS)personnel.

The Minister of Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, at the official Commissioning spoke on “Justice, Safety and Security” at Medium Security Custodial Centre, on Monday, in Ilesa.

He condemned the bad behaviours of inmates that led them to their incarceration, saying this should not prompt depriving them of their full dignity and right.

The Minister commended President Muhammadu Buhari for changing the conception of the penal system from the punitive prison system to a correction system.

According to him, the changes would reform and integrate convicted offenders back into society as part of civilised humanity.

“They are entitled to decent meals, medical treatment and humane accommodation, among others, so these would help them to recover the best version of themselves and become who they were destined to be.

“For this to be possible, the right infrastructure and conducive environment have to be provided for both inmates and staff at the custodial centres,”he emphasised.

Aregbesola stressed that it is why the present administration keep upgrading facilities and providing new ones, in line with global best practices, in as much as resources would permit.

According to him, Federal government is also conscious of the fact that NCoS is an integral part of the justice system and must be given the required attention, to keep the country on the path of progress.

He explained that they realised that beyond the primary duty of keeping inmates in safe custody and keeping society safe from them, it’s necessary to reform, reintegrate them as better and responsible citizens into the society.

“Healthcare is one of the basic amenities required for human wellbeing at any given time. Incarceration does not take away the right of inmates to quality medical care.

“The Ilesa Medium Security Custodial Centre has an interesting history as one of the oldest in the country. It was commissioned in 1943 with a capacity to accommodate 600 inmates.

“But with burgeoning population and society becoming more complex, this can no longer serve the needs of this area, with our intervention, a regional mega facility with capacity for 3,000 inmates has been established in Ilesa.

“We established six such facilities in the six geo-political zones of the country to address the challenge of congestion, especially in urban centres and ease the burden of accommodation for inmates,” he expressed.

Aregbesola assured that the ones in Abuja and Kano are almost completed and hope that with improved funding, the others, including the Ilesa will be completed soon.

He recalled the difficulty the whole world experienced in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, thanking God and government for not recording a case of infection or transmission of COVID-19 in any of the facilities.

He stressed that awaiting trial inmates, 90 per cent of which are state offenders, constitute more than 70 per cent of the inmates across all custodial facilities.

Aregbesola urged the state governments to take advantage of this development to start providing for their own custodial centres and explore areas.

He maintained that President Buhari had signed into law the constitution amendment for state correctional services.

He called on states to introduce judicial reforms that will make possible prompt dispensation of justice and do away with long and often indeterminate detention which creates the deluge of awaiting trial inmates in the custodial centres.

“Many inmates have been in detention for a period longer than the maximum sentence the offence they were alleged to have committed carries. This is miscarriage of justice and inexcusable.

The Minister appealed to all officials live above board, to be thoroughly professional and shun any act of corruption, including inordinate relationship with inmates.

“Corruption suborns  the integrity of any institution. In the custodial centre, it puts inmates and staff in danger and undermines the security of our nation, including the citizens.

“Therefore, all personnel must be personally disciplined and all rules followed,” he stated.

Earlier, the Controller General of Corrections, Haliru Nababa, applauded President Buhari for repositioning the Correctional Service in line with standard global practice, especially touching on the medical well-being of inmates and staff alike.

Nababa said that quality healthcare accessibility is a basic requirement for humane and professional management of inmates, for inmates’ welfare is not only a matter of priority but a statutory responsibility.

He lauded Aregbesola, for his pragmatic leadership and commitment in canvassing for greater funding and general support for the Service.

Nababa promised that they would not rest on their oars but would continue to strive for excellence in the discharge of their duties, and hoped to get required support from both state and non-state actors, as well as other stakeholders.

Among those that graced the events are: Deputy-Controller General (DCG) covering duty (CD), Tosin Akinrujomu; DCG (CD) Health & Welfare, Mary Emmanuel; Ogunyemi, Zonal Coordinator, Zone “F”, ACG Abimbola; Controller of Corrections, Osun State Command, Tolu Ogunsakin among others.