The Interior Minister, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, has now put in place some fresh security measures aimed at forestalling any incidence of jailbreak in the Nigeria Correctional Centres.
This was disclosed to our correspondent on Tuesday by the Special Consultant to the Minister on Security Matters, Dr. Oladipupo Okeyomi.
Okeyomi, who would not expatiate on the measures on security grounds, noted that there had been series of collaborative efforts with virtually all the security agencies in the country, for which intelligence gathering, whistle-blowing incentive, requisite surveillance, and reinforcement were taken into consideration.
“While I would not divulge the nitty-gritty of the water-tight security devices initiated by the Honorable Minister to forestall recurrence of jailbreak anywhere in our correctional centres, I want to assure concerned Nigerians that we have risen up to the occasion.
“Terror attacks on public establishments and installations is not peculiar to Nigeria but we are not sleeping on our oars, as the Minister has brought in some ingenuous measures that will evidently nip the issue of jailbreak in the bud.
“Under the measures, intelligence gathering, whistle-blowing incentive, requisite surveillance, and reinforcement have been taken into consideration. But like I said, I won’t reveal the detail; the result will convince all,” he disclosed.
He stressed that the manifestation of such measures could be found in the mass recapture of many prison inmates that escaped in the wake of recent terror attacks.
The special consultant, known in security and political circles as ‘Carry Go’, also remarked that many operational tools had been procured for the prisons by the Aregbesola leadership in the interior ministry, citing in particular, the procurement of 451 operational vans for the correctional centres.
Besides, he revealed that prison inmates in the country are now better off, as their feeding and upkeep allowances had been periodically jerked up.
He added that inmates had also been allowed to practise their professions within the confines of the prisons, as well as engage in vocational works where applicable, so they would be fully integrated into the society after serving out their terms.
He disclosed too that Aregbesola had extracted strong commitment from the tripartite law enforcement agencies of the Nigeria Police, the Offices of the Attorneys General, and the judiciary; with a view to enhancing quick dispensation of justice, to discourage prisons’ congestion.
Towards this end, the Interior Ministry under Aregbesola had built a 3,000-capacity correctional centre each in the three geo-political zones of the country, he revealed.