‘Children don’t have any business being in prison’

To Dr. Olayinka Atilola, a consultant child and adolescent psychiatrist with Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), there is no reason whatsoever for children to be in prison. Therefore, such happening is an aberration that should not be condoned in any form.

Said he: “The Nigerian youth correctional system is overwhelmed and poorly organised. To that extent, some children have found their way into the adult prison system. I am aware that some women within the prison do sometime give birth and tend to raise their children there. But this is a great danger because when children are close to adult criminals, the chances are that they might be abused, maltreated or further indoctrinated into the criminal world because they are young and believe that what an adult tells them is the right thing. So, these adults can take advantage of their innocence and introduce them into more serious crimes.”

According to him, the confinement in adult prison is not structured for the kind of rehabilitation and reformation the child needs. So, such a system is not likely to benefit a child.

“While the youth correctional system is designed for reformation and to ensure the child is corrected and able to continue with normal life afterwards, the adult system tilts heavily towards punishment and incarceration. You can see that both have different philosophies, which create a problem,” he explained.

Atilola stated further that unlike the youth correctional system, where children may have opportunity for continued education in some cases, there is no such opportunity for that in adult prisons.

“There is also the issue of overcrowding, poor sanitary conditions, poor health system, lack of hygiene, poor nutrition, exposure to infectious diseases and lack of health personnel among others,” he said. “I dare say that that is the reality on ground in Nigeria, when it comes to youth correctional system. I know that many of the youth correctional systems in Lagos do not have in-house health workers. So, when children have health issues, they are taken to external hospital system, which is not supposed to be. There should be an in-house system.

“Children can get exposed to such health-threatening infections as tuberculosis, respiratory infection, worm infection, scabies and so on. To correct this anomaly and assist children, they should be removed from adult prisons because it is not healthy and will not lead to appropriate reformation. It is even against the law. The Child Rights Act domiciled in Nigeria does not allow for the incarceration of the minor in an adult prison. The Nigerian juvenile justice system should be reformed in such a way that no child should be found in an adult prison.”

Atilola also believes that there is a need to decongest the Nigerian youth correctional system and develop alternative programmes so that children are diverted away from prisons into community service, including compulsory school attendance and other measures that will reduce the total number of children that find themselves in incarceration for whatever offence.

“From my experience, most of the children in youth correctional system in Nigeria are minor offenders or status offenders, many of which can be dealt with outside of the prison or youth correctional institutions,” he said.