Nigeria Prisons Service solicits supports of State, Local Govts.

The Nigeria Prisons Service (NPS) has solicited the support of State and Local Governments in solving the problems of prison congestion.
Mr Francis Enobore, the Spokesperson for the Service made the appeal in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday in Abuja.

Enobore said that prison congestion had constituted a major problem to the service for a long time.

He said government, especially at the local and state levels, had neglected the NPS, pointing out that they were more concerned about assisting the arresting agencies to checkmate crime.

Enobore specifically appealed to the state and local governments to assist the NPS to ensure proper disposal of cases awaiting trial.

“ Our role is to present any inmate facing trial before the judge and in an event that the judge is unable to see the inmate physically, there is no way the case can be examined.

“Therefore, for the NPS to ensure that inmates are present in court as and when due, the logistics should be adequately provided.

“Adequate arrangements to ensure that inmates are taken to court on time should be put in place,’’ he said.

Enobore stressed that the NPS deserved attention like other arresting agencies.

“ These criminals, when arrested by these agencies, are brought to the prison.

“When you arrest people and bring them to the prison, a suitable arrangement to ensure that their cases are properly disposed off must be made.

“If you keep them in the prison without arrangement for their trial, they gradually become a nuisance to the system.

“By the time they are returned to the streets, they become worse.

“So, this is the reason why we keep pleading for assistance to increase our capacity so that these cases can easily be heard and disposed of as quickly as possible,” he said.

Enobore stressed that assistance from the two levels of government to complement the efforts of the federal would go a long way to rid the country of criminality.