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States Now To Feed, Accommodate Inmates – Aregbesola

Published

2 years ago

May 11, 2023

The Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola says state governments will now be feeding and accommodating inmates in their states.

He said this followed the recent consultation amendment which placed Correctional Services on the concurrent list.

Aregbesola gave the insight while speaking at a 2-day High-Level Conference on Decongestion and Corrections Management, on Thursday in Abuja.

“This simply means that states are now empowered to establish their own Correctional Services and facilities.

“States which do not have correctional facilities would have to pay the Federal Government for the feeding and accommodation of their inmates,” the minister said.

According to him, this is a huge relief to the Federal Government which used to shoulder the burden of accommodating and feeding inmates.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that in 2023, the Federal Government had earmarked N22.44 billion to feed inmates across 244 correctional facilities in the country.

The minister lamented that the huge amount was draining the coppers of the Federal Government.

“These facilities are being run by the Federal Government. It should be noted that the criminal justice system of Nigeria makes provision for state and federal offences.

“However, until the amendment of the Constitution, only the Federal Government was in charge of custodial centres.

“With the amendment of the Constitution, states are now empowered to build correctional centres and facilities to house offenders who are convicted and sentenced for committing state offences.

“Where states are unable to build custodial centres, it is believed that they can suggest ways to collaborate with the Federal Government in feeding and housing these state offenders,’’ he added.

Aregbesola said that the conference had brought to the fore, applicable laws to aid the reform of correctional services, including custodial and non-custodial measures.

He said that Section 12 (4-12) of the NCoS Act, gave the Service the power to reject inmates when custodial centres are full.

“By the provision of the Act, the Controller-General, NCoS, is mandated to inform the head of the judiciary of when the custodial centres have exceeded their capacity.

“This is necessary so that more offenders are not sent to the centres to serve their sentence. Where his information is not heeded, he is mandated to reject new inmates.

“It is hoped that the above measure will curb the dumping tendencies leading to overcrowding of the custodial centres.

“This will be by encouraging the payment of fines for simple offences, non-custodial sentencing and also building and construction of new correctional facilities,’’ the minister said.

The Controller General, of Nigeria Correctional Service (NCoS), Haliru Nababa said that the sad cases of jailbreaks had claimed the lives of officers and inmates and the escape of prisoners.

Nababa said that the trend posed a grave threat to the sovereignty and prosperity of the country.

“However, we are not resting on our oars to ensure that we stem the tide.

“We have stepped-up security in and around our Custodial Centres by fortification of access controls.

“We have increased the capacity of our Armed Squad Personnel through specialized training and deployment of high calibre weapons.

“We have upscaled our use of technology for security, with the improvement of the Correctional Information Management System for inmates’ biometric capturing to cover more formations.

“In like manner, a Situation Room has been established at the National Headquarters to enable real-time monitoring of Custodial Centres in phases.

“Similarly, we have continued to improve collaboration with sister security agencies at strategic, tactical and operational levels,’’ Nababa said.

News

JUST IN: NLC Gives FG Four Weeks To Resolve ASUU Crisis

Published

2 hours ago

October 20, 2025

Editor

The Nigeria Labour Congress has resolved to issue a four-week ultimatum to the Federal Government should it fail to conclude negotiations with all tertiary institutions-based unions.

The NLC also condemned the no-work-no-pay policy introduced by the government as a form of sanction to members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities for daring to embark on a nationwide strike.

The president of the NLC, Joe Ajaero made this known in an ongoing interactive session with labour correspondents in Abuja.

The interactive session followed the meeting between the NLC and leaders of tertiary institutions’ based unions at the NLC headquarters in Abuja.

“We have decided to give the federal government four weeks to conclude all negotiations in this sector. They have started talks with ASUU but the problem in this sector goes beyond ASUU.

“That is why we are extending this to four weeks. If after four weeks this negotiation is not concluded, the organs of the NEC will meet and take a nationwide action that all workers in the country, all unions in the country will be involved so that we get to the root of all this.

“ The era of signing agreements, negotiations and threatening the unions involved, that era has come to an end.

“The policy, the so-called policy of no work, no pay, will henceforth be no pay, no work. You can’t benefit from an action you instigated. We have discovered that most, 90% of strike actions in this country are caused by failure to obey agreements,” Ajaero said.

The Nigerian higher education system has been faced with chronic instability, the latest leading to the closure of universities nationwide due to the ongoing strike by ASUU.

Recall that ASUU National President Professor Chris Piwuna announced the strike at a press briefing at the University of Abuja on Sunday, following the expiry of a 14-day ultimatum issued to the government on September 28. The union cited unresolved issues relating to staff welfare, infrastructure, salary arrears, and the implementation of the 2009 ASUU-FGN agreement.

Negotiations in recent weeks failed to avert industrial action. Education Minister Tunji Alausa said two weeks ago that talks had reached a final phase, noting the government had released N50bn for earned academic allowances and allocated N150bn in the 2025 budget for a needs assessment to be disbursed in three instalments. However, ASUU rejected these measures as insufficient.

The union is demanding full implementation of the 2009 agreement, release of three-and-a-half months of withheld salaries, sustainable funding for universities, protection against victimisation, payment of outstanding promotion and salary arrears, and release of withheld deductions for cooperatives and union contributions.

The NLC emphasised its full solidarity with ASUU and other tertiary education unions, calling for robust participation from all union leaders.

It also highlighted the principle of a converse stance, “No Pay, No Work”, urging the government to honour collective agreements and respect the rights of workers.

The emergency meeting is expected to chart the next steps for industrial action and explore strategies to safeguard the welfare of university staff, as well as the quality and continuity of public tertiary education in Nigeria.

News

JUST IN: NLC Begins Meeting With ASUU, Other Unions Over Strike

Published

2 hours ago

October 20, 2025

Editor

The Nigeria Labour Congress has commenced a meeting with the leadership of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities, Colleges of Education Academic Staff Union, Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics, Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Polytechnics among others over the ongoing strike in universities and other concerns raised by workers in tertiary institutions nationwide.

The meeting is currently holding at the NLC national headquarters in Abuja.

Recall that the NLC in a letter invited all union leaders across various tertiary institutions of learning nationwide to a meeting to find lasting solutions to issues stemmed from failed negotiations with the Federal Government.

Nigerian higher education system has been faced with chronic instability, the latest leading to closure of universities nationwide due to the ongoing strike by ASUU.

The NLC emphasised its full solidarity with ASUU and other tertiary education unions, calling for robust participation from all union leaders. It also highlighted the principle of a converse stance, “No Pay, No Work”, urging the government to honour collective agreements and respect the rights of workers.

News

Witchcraft: FIDA Sensitises Stakeholders On Accusations In Bauchi

Published

4 hours ago

October 20, 2025

Editor

The Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA), Bauchi State Chapter, has engaged members of Tafawa Balewa Local Government Council in a one-day sensitization programme on alleged witchcraft accusations.

The event was conducted in collaboration with the Advocacy for Alleged Witches (AFAW), a Non-Governmental Organisation.

Speaking at the event, the Chairperson of FIDA Bauchi, Barr. Hauwa Ahmed Abubakar, said the initiative aimed to curb harmful beliefs and practices that often result in trauma, violence, and disunity among families.

She said the practice continues to endanger the lives of innocent people.

“Today’s engagement focuses on enlightening community members about the dangers of stigmatization and harmful traditional beliefs.

“We brought together traditional leaders, women, youth, and other stakeholders to discuss how to end these practices and promote peace and mutual respect,” she said.

Abubakar explained that the campaign seeks to protect vulnerable individuals, especially women, and prevent abuses linked to witchcraft accusations across communities in Bauchi State.

“There is nothing like witchcraft in our laws, neither in the constitution nor in the state’s statutes.

“But because people are unaware of their rights, they resort to jungle justice. Ignorance of the law is not an excuse; anyone who harms or kills another person over witchcraft claims will be prosecuted,” she explained.

The Programme Manager of AFAW, Mr. Dooyum Dominic Ingye, condemned the persistent persecution of women and children over witchcraft allegations, describing it as a “deep-rooted human rights violation” in Nigeria.

He said the sensitization campaign was organized to raise awareness about the dangers of witchcraft-related stigma and to promote respect for human rights within communities.

One of the victims, Mrs. Hannatu Yakubu, shared her painful experience, recalling how her mother was taken away by some youths in 2020 after being accused of witchcraft.

“In 2020, we heard a loud noise around our area, and my mother was taken away by some youths. Since then, life has not been the same, but I am grateful that help eventually came,” she said.

Another community member, Mr. Haruna Musa Gital, a community leader, narrated how a young man suffered emotional distress after his wife was falsely accused of witchcraft by his own brother.