The 10th Senate on Tuesday expressed displeasure over the frequent jailbreaks witnessed across the country in the past few years.
This is as the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, lamented that many jailbreaks have occurred after a change of name from the Nigeria Prisons Service to Nigeria Correctional Service.
Akpabio spoke during the consideration of a bill for the amendment of the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission Act to draw attention to the ‘deceit’ in adopting the name, Nigeria Correctional Service.
He stated, “Since the adoption of that name, we have had more jailbreaks,” adding that “laws are meant to punish and to correct. If by the time you are convicted and you are sent to prison, you are even meant to learn a skill and ethical reorientation and all that. It is not only when we specifically call it a correctional centre and yet we are not correcting anything.
“I support the idea of having a thorough examination of the bill for the amendment of the RMAFC Act to avoid making the same mistake we made in coming up with the Correctional Services as a name.”
Recall that no fewer than 10 jailbreaks occurred since the name was changed from the Nigerian Prisons Service to the Nigerian Correctional Service by President Muhammadu Buhari on August 15, 2019, after signing the Nigerian Correctional Service Act, 2019 into law.
Findings have shown that within the last ten years, about 20 jailbreaks, occurred in Nigeria, a development the Senate President blamed on incompetence and deceit.
Between 2021 and 2022 alone, no fewer than eight prison outbreaks were recorded in Nigeria with over 4,000 inmates fleeing as a result.
Five prison breaks occurred in 2021 while three occurred in 2022 across the nation.
On April 5, 2021, 1,844 inmates escaped from the Owerri Correctional Centre, Imo state, after gunmen attacked the facility, after which the NCoS ordered a probe.
Three months later, on July 8, 2021, four awaiting trial inmates escaped from the Jos Custodial Centre, Plateau State.
Another jailbreak occurred on September 13, 2021, at Kabba Correctional Centre, Kogi state, where over 2,400 inmates ran away. Also, on October 22, 2021, gunmen attacked the Abolongo medium-security custodial centre in Oyo State, among many other jail breaks.
The latest jailbreak happened in April 2024, as 118 inmates fled the Medium Security Custodial Centre, Suleja, Niger State, after a downpour damaged facility.
Jailbreaks Have Increased Since Name Adoption Of “Nigeria Correctional Service” – Akpabio
