By Toye Olori
LAGOS, Aug 14 1999 (IPS)

Nigeria’s new president, Olusegun Obasanjo, has embarked on a programme to reform the country’s collapsing prison system, run down by the military in the past 15 years.

One of the things Obasanjo did, after he was sworn-in as President on May 29, was to establish a National Prisons Reform Committee to advice on what course of action to take to improve Nigeria’s prison conditions.

“The problems facing Nigeria’s prison service are enormous. But congestion has been a major one. However, this has been reduced with the new reforms in the prisons,” says Mohammed Jarma, Comptroller General of the Nigeria Prison Service (NPS).

“There are presently 40,129 inmates as against over 50,000 some four months ago. Out of the number, 60 percent are Awaiting Trial Persons (ATPs),” he explains.

The reduction in the number of inmates in Nigerian prisons came as a result of clemency and releases by judges who reviewed the cases of inmates some of who, they say, shouldn’t have been there.

Rights groups, unhappy with the reforms in Nigeria’s 223 prisons, say the 60 percent rate of ATPs is still too high.

“The reforms, government has put in place, are not substantial to address the problems of prisons. The prisons remain over- crowded, under resourced and without facilities just as it used to be,” says Sam Amade of the Human Rights Law Service (HRLS).

Amade, who heads the Prison Litigation and Reform Section of the HRLS, told IPS in the commercial city of Lagos that, “if there is any improvement in the conditions of prisons, they are merely cosmetics because the problems plaguing prisons in Nigeria is multifaceted and endemic”.

“The whole concession and restructure of prison in Nigeria is grossly faulty. What the government has done is just to release some prisoners but not to alleviate the problems of inmates. There are still massive violation of human rights, injustice, torture and dehumanisation as they used to be,” he claims.

Amade’s claims have been dismissed by Jarma as not based on facts. “Most of the ATPs are persons involved in armed robbery and drugs which are not easy to investigate and until investigation is completed by the police, they cannot be prosecuted,” he says.

Jarma says the 2.4 billion naira released by President Obasanjo, himself a former inmate, is being used for constructing new prison blocs, erecting perimetre walls, sinking bore-holes for water, constructing sewage, organising workshops and training inmates in crafts making. One US dollar is equal to 89 naira.

“Feeding and medical care for inmates have also improved,” he says.

The Human Rights Law Service, which is collaborating with the British Council and the National Human Rights Commission, has been campaigning for “humane and just prisons service” for inmates in Nigeria.

“The whole old prison structure in Nigeria is colonial and out of place in present-day world. In Nigeria, the prison is attached to the Ministry of Internal Affairs which does not give powers to those directly involved in their day-to-day running,” Amade says.

“The current reforms are symbolic changes. But, we are talking about efficient running of prisons, accountability, reduced population, reduced sentences, granting more amnesty and improvement of human rights and justice to prisoners,” he says.

Despite the criticisms, Jarma argues that much has already been achieved in the past few months.

“There have been tremendous changes and reformation in prisons…with the release of funds by the Obasanjo government…the quality and quantity of food has changed, we have increased feeding fee from 50 naira to 100 naira per prisoner per day which is adequate,” he says.

“We have monitoring unit made up of medical officers, caterers and outsiders who inspect food, drinking water and other facilities in prisons nationwide,” he says.

“Besides, we are training inmates to become useful after leaving the prisons. We have nine prison farms across the country, but the problem is that because of the stigma attached to prisoners by the society, they can hardly settle down and be useful after prison life,” he adds

Excerpt:

By Toye Olori
LAGOS, Aug 13 1999 (IPS)

Nigeria’s new president, Olusegun Obasanjo, has embarked on a programme to reform the country’s collapsing prison system, run down by the military in the past 15 years.

One of the things Obasanjo did, after he was sworn-in as President on May 29, was to establish a National Prisons Reform Committee to advice on what course of action to take to improve Nigeria’s prison conditions.

“The problems facing Nigeria’s prison service are enormous. But congestion has been a major one. However, this has been reduced with the new reforms in the prisons,” says Mohammed Jarma, Comptroller General of the Nigeria Prison Service (NPS).

“There are presently 40,129 inmates as against over 50,000 some four months ago. Out of the number, 60 percent are Awaiting Trial Persons (ATPs),” he explains.

The reduction in the number of inmates in Nigerian prisons came as a result of clemency and releases by judges who reviewed the cases of inmates some of who, they say, shouldn’t have been there.

Rights groups, unhappy with the reforms in Nigeria’s 223 prisons, say the 60 percent rate of ATPs is still too high.

“The reforms, government has put in place, are not substantial to address the problems of prisons. The prisons remain over- crowded, under resourced and without facilities just as it used to be,” says Sam Amade of the Human Rights Law Service (HRLS).

Amade, who heads the Prison Litigation and Reform Section of the HRLS, told IPS in the commercial city of Lagos that, “if there is any improvement in the conditions of prisons, they are merely cosmetics because the problems plaguing prisons in Nigeria is multifaceted and endemic”.

“The whole concession and restructure of prison in Nigeria is grossly faulty. What the government has done is just to release some prisoners but not to alleviate the problems of inmates. There are still massive violation of human rights, injustice, torture and dehumanisation as they used to be,” he claims.

Amade’s claims have been dismissed by Jarma as not based on facts. “Most of the ATPs are persons involved in armed robbery and drugs which are not easy to investigate and until investigation is completed by the police, they cannot be prosecuted,” he says.

Jarma says the 2.4 billion naira released by President Obasanjo, himself a former inmate, is being used for constructing new prison blocs, erecting perimetre walls, sinking bore-holes for water, constructing sewage, organising workshops and training inmates in crafts making. One US dollar is equal to 89 naira.

“Feeding and medical care for inmates have also improved,” he says.

The Human Rights Law Service, which is collaborating with the British Council and the National Human Rights Commission, has been campaigning for “humane and just prisons service” for inmates in Nigeria.

“The whole old prison structure in Nigeria is colonial and out of place in present-day world. In Nigeria, the prison is attached to the Ministry of Internal Affairs which does not give powers to those directly involved in their day-to-day running,” Amade says.

“The current reforms are symbolic changes. But, we are talking about efficient running of prisons, accountability, reduced population, reduced sentences, granting more amnesty and improvement of human rights and justice to prisoners,” he says.

Despite the criticisms, Jarma argues that much has already been achieved in the past few months.

“There have been tremendous changes and reformation in prisons…with the release of funds by the Obasanjo government…the quality and quantity of food has changed, we have increased feeding fee from 50 naira to 100 naira per prisoner per day which is adequate,” he says.

“We have monitoring unit made up of medical officers, caterers and outsiders who inspect food, drinking water and other facilities in prisons nationwide,” he says.

“Besides, we are training inmates to become useful after leaving the prisons. We have nine prison farms across the country, but the problem is that because of the stigma attached to prisoners by the society, they can hardly settle down and be useful after prison life,” he adds

Excerpt: