As part of efforts to decongest the Nigerian Prisons, the Federal Executive Council, FEC, on Wednesday approved N3.5 billion for the procurement of 320 operational vehicles to convey prison inmates to courts.
This is targeted at reducing the population of prisoners which currently stands at 65,000 with 70 per cent of them awaiting trial largely due to lack of vehicles to convey them to court.
Briefing journalists after the Federal Executive Council meeting chaired by President Muhammadu Buhari, the Minister of Interior, Abdulrahman Dambazau, said the vehicles will be sourced from local manufacturers, assemblers and vendors within Nigeria, in line with government policy to promote made in Nigeria goods and create employment opportunities for the youth.
Mr. Dambazau who briefed reporters after the Council meeting said the approval of the procurement was also part of efforts to strengthen the criminal justice system.
“For a very long time, the prison system has suffered due to lack of operational vehicles. And as
such, quite a number of prisoners remain in prisons longer than necessary because they do not have the opportunity to be conveyed to the courts.”
The interior minister added that the essence of procuring the vehicles was to ensure that the prison authorities were well equipped to transport the inmates to 5,022 courts across the country.
The minister did not, however, give the breakdown of the type of vehicles to be bought and the unit cost of each.
JUDICIAL REFORM
“We are trying to see how we can reduce the number of inmates awaiting trial. But the criminal Justice Act of 2015 has also made provision for alternative sentencing, otherwise known as non-custodian sentencing.
“The courts can now use that to rather than sending the individual to prison, depending on the crime committed, apply other means of dealing with his case.
“There is also an inter-ministerial committee looking at that issue of decongestion.”
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