The Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS) describes as false, statement purportedly made by the Controller General of Corrections (CGC), Haliru Nababa as an instruction to custodial centers across the country, banning religious activities with inmates.In a statement, the Service’ Public Relations Officer, Francis Enobore says the service encourages all forms of genuine visits to inmates by relations and well-meaning individuals and groups to promote psycho-social support, which is pivotal to the reformation and rehabilitation of inmates.
To put the records straight, visits to custodial centers were temporarily suspended in April 2020 in compliance with National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) COVID-19 protocol to prevent the dreaded pandemic from entering Custodial Centres.
Since the pandemic has not abated, especially with the current virulent Omicron variant still uncaged, the Presidential Taskforce on COVID-19, in its wisdom, has advised the sustenance of preventive protocols which include, crowd control, strict monitoring of migration amongst others. This explains why the management of the NCOs is yet to relax the restriction on visits to Custodial Centres.
The public may wish to note that while Custodial Centres in some developed climes suffered under the weight of the pandemic, custodial centers in Nigeria, with their overwhelming population phenomenon, can maintain zero infection status among the inmates. This is made possible through strict adherence to various preventive measures.
Similarly, it would be recalled that, through proactive and professional management of health issues amongst inmates, disease outbreaks like Ebola, Cerebral Spinal Meningitis (CSM), Lassa Fever to mention a few, have been successfully prevented from entering custodial centers in Nigeria and no inmate has been lost to any of the diseases.
The CGC appreciates the cooperation of members of the public in complying with the preventive measures and assures that the health and complete well-being of inmates in custody will continue to enjoy prime attention in his administration.
