The Nigeria Correctional Service (NCoS) on Tuesday lamented how lack of funds is impairing its treatment of inmates.
The NCoS said specifically that paucity of funds has undercut its services to female inmates, death row inmates and inmates with mental and physical disabilities.
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This came up on Tuesday during the second day of the third phase of its public hearing of the independent investigative panel on the alleged corruption and abuse of power, torture, cruel, inhumane in the NCoS.
During the hearing, the panel called on the representatives of the custodial centres to discuss how women in custody, inmates on death row and those with physical and mental disabilities were treated.
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PREMIUM TIMES reported Monday’s hearing, which focused on child detention.
On Tuesday, lack of funding is a recurring theme of presentations.
Treatment of women in custody
The NCoS said that there were 1,885 female inmates, of whom 1,235 are awaiting trials and 650 are convicts, including inmates on death row (IDR). A representative of the NCoS, A. A Shehu, noted that there were few custodial centres designated for women alone.
Another representative, I.N. Idris, said “budget limitation makes it difficult to actualise more separate custodial centres for women,” despite the mandate of Section 34 of the Nigeria Correctional Service Act 2019.
A report in 2024 noted that out of 241 correctional centres, only two are solely designated for women.
However, on Tuesday, the NCoS reported three operational custodial centres for women in Ondo, Lagos, and Adamawa. They also stated that a correctional centre in Keffi has been gazetted for female inmates.
The NCoS presented a documentary on the state of the women’s custodial centre at Kirikiri in Lagos.
Mr Idris informed the panel that the NCoS had established a gender desk. He also stated that the treatment of women takes precedence.
He commended Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) and health workers who have collaborated with the NCoS by contributing to the welfare of female inmates.
A member of the panel, Iyke Ezeugo, highlighted the challenges that female inmates face in mixed-gender custodial centres, which include a lack of recreational, educational, vocational and worship centres.
The panel charged the NCoS to submit a written report on correctional centres headed by female officers and the state of those centres.
No facilities for a pregnancy test
Mr Ezeugo said the panel, during a visit to a custodial centre, met an inmate who was unaware of her pregnancy until six weeks after admission into the centre. He noted that this was a violation of Section 34(4) of the NCoS Act, 2019.
Section 34(4) of the NCoS Act, 2019 stipulates that “All female inmates shall undergo pregnancy tests on the first day of admission or as soon as possible but not exceeding 14 days from the date of admission.”
M. Veronica, an NCoS officer in charge of nursing and hospital services, said lack of funding was hampering the operation of the facilities.
High cost of maintaining inmates on death row
The NCoS noted that there were 3,845 IDRs, of whom 81 were females. Correctional officer, L.C. Cyrus, spoke on the challenges of congestion.
“The cost of maintaining IDRs is high…we certainly should have some kind of increase in budgetary allocation for the management of these inmates,” he said.
He warned that the IDRs’ demand for double rations, if not met, could lead to a riot.
The panel commended the NCoS for its handling of IDRs but recommended the provision of mental healthcare for IDRs in line with Section 23 of the NCoS Act, 2019.
Inmates with mental and physical disabilities
The NCoS also complained of inadequate facilities for inmates with mental and physical disabilities, particularly structural facilities like reasonable accommodations, psychiatric services, and medications.
An officer in charge of pharmaceutical services, NCoS, Muhammad Bashir, said, “The federal government has been doing its best to see that it caters for the health needs of the inmates. Money is being appropriated. But is the money enough? No.
“What is appropriated to NCoS is 75 million for all of these 81,000 inmates… The service is doing its best. The ministry is doing its best. But funding is always the issue.”
While acknowledging the challenge of the funding, the chairperson of the panel, Magdalene Ajani, encouraged NCoS officers to collaborate with companies and stakeholders to assist.
“I keep saying that it will be very difficult for any government institution to be able to fund its needs 100 per cent. So, collaboration is necessary. If we can approach companies that can give us drugs as Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), then do it,” she said.
This is not the first time the correctional service has lamented the lack of funds. In March, the NCoS stated it blamed its inability to establish more correctional centres to address overcrowding of inmates on lack of funding.
However, the panel on Tuesday highlighted the failure of the service in the usage of a 3,000-capacity centre in Kano due to structural problems. Mrs Ajani asked the NCoS to submit a proper evaluation of the building in one month.
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