AREGBESOLA: BETWEEN SAFETY OF INMATES AND SECURITY OF STAFF OF CORRECTIONAL CENTRES
Rauf Aregbesola, Minister of Interior is working on wide range of reforms of correctional facilities from city to city and the security measures in place to ensure public safety after the incidence in Kogi and Lagos correctional centres. Rauf Aregbesola, Minister of Interior is coming with a comprehensive listing of the major institutions, community correctional centres and parole offices managed by the Correctional Service of Nigeria. Also, Rauf Aregbesola, Minister of Interior is reviewing more facilities run by our non-governmental partners. Rauf Aregbesola, Minister of Interior takes environmental responsibilities seriously. Rauf Aregbesola, Minister of Interior is making efforts to clean up contaminated sites, and all the ways correctional service works to co-exist with our natural surroundings.
The primary concern of Rauf Aregbesola, Minister of Interior concerning correctional facilities is the safety and security of staff, inmates and the facility itself. Notwithstanding what society may feel about inmates generally, people who are either awaiting trial or sentencing or serving out a sentence deserve to be safe in their institution. Disciplinary procedures and punishment contributing to safety, security and order in correctional centres. Rauf Aregbesola, Minister of Interior places emphasis on the safety and health of inmates. Rauf Aregbesola, Minister of Interior understands the constitution and international prescripts pertaining to the health of inmates
One of the primary concerns of Rauf Aregbesola, Minister of Interior is investing on the staff and deal with overcrowding correctional centres to combat rising violence and rival gang feuds. Rauf Aregbesola, Minister of Interior knows that overcrowding and a lack of staff is creating a very volatile situation at all the correctional facilities around Nigeria. Rauf Aregbesola, Minister of Interior wants to see his ministry investing in inmates, more staff and more resources to deal with these very concerning issues.
Rauf Aregbesola, Minister of Interior understands that “Correctional officers have some of the toughest jobs in Nigeria. But no one should have to fear for their safety when they go to work. Correctional officers need much more support and resources before this situation becomes worse than it already is.
The Minister of Interior Rauf Aregbesola, recently disclosed that there are 75, 000 inmates currently in the country’s correctional facilities. The minister said that the Federal Government was working on de-congesting correctional centres across Nigeria by reducing the number of awaiting trial inmates. He said that the new law signed by President Muhammadu Buhari had not only changed prisons to correctional facilities, but also empowered correctional officers not to admit offenders awaiting trial, if the capacity of the facility could not accommodate them.
“What are we doing about people who are awaiting trial, the new law provides for correctional officers in the facilities to reject any person that is brought from the court, who is awaiting trial. “So with this new law, it is clear that going forward we will not have what we have now in our facilities.’’ He said that in response to the need to decongest prisons, the government had constituted a decongestion committee.
Aregbesola said the committee had been working with the Attorney-General of the Federation to decongest correctional facilities in the country. “In no distant future, we will reduce the issue of awaiting trial considerably; as we are also working with the governors on that
Because close to 90 per cent of the awaiting trial inmates are violators of state laws and so are essentially the responsibility of the various state governments.“So we equally need to carry them along in devising strategies to decongest the facilities and I want to assure us all that in six months time, this will be put behind us,’’ he added.
The minister said that government was determined to reduce pressure on its facilities, to improve care of inmates, particularly in reformation, rehabilitation, and re-adjustment to normal life when they completed their terms. President Muhammadu Buhari recently signed into law the 11-year-old Nigerian Correctional Service Bill. Nigerian prisons had been heavily criticised for their overcrowded state and poor conditions. With the newly-signed law, Rauf Aregbesola as minister of interior will decongest correctional facilities which reflect and satisfy the yearning of the concerned stakeholders for correctional centres decongestion and reformation of correctional centre inmates. Aregbesola has put in place policies that will enhance decongestion of correctional centres across Nigeria. He will address existing gaps in Correctional centres decongestion and diligently implement the advised decongestion project.
Rauf Aregbesola, Minister of Interior wants ‘to achieve as close to 100 per cent engagement of inmates in employment, life skills, education and programs to address their offending behaviour. There appears to be a large misunderstanding to determine what is safe and what is unsafe in a potentially high risk and violent environment. Violence inside a prison can take place anywhere. It can happen inside the housing units, the recreation yard, work areas, the infirmary or as demonstrated by the Arizona rape incident, the classrooms. No work should have a risk associated with it as “usual” or “accepted” to go with the job.
We are constantly reminded that our prisoners can and do have history of violent behaviors and must never forgo or forget they may turn violent on a moment’s notice due to well-planned, spontaneous actions or provoked situations. Critical incidents can turn into lethal situations in seconds and security is necessary to deter such ideas or occurrences daily.
The issue of personal safety can be covered by using basic security habits or procedures to remain safe to some degree. We can escort employees, watch over them by using virtual electronic technologies, lock them in designated areas or control access to areas by using a controlled movement procedures that identifies authorized personnel only in those areas.
Regardless and no matter what security element we use, we must always have a basic awareness or vigilance about ourselves and others to establish the very basic point of being safe. This is achieved by effectively training you for the job assigned and giving you the tools required to carry out such an assignment.
Managing risks is a complex and fluid on-going challenge that must be done constantly in order to detect changes in the environment or population. Inspectors or officers should be aware of the variables that may change over time and require adjustments in procedures to attain the level of security to reduce the risks. This is a constant problem inside prisons.
The visible proof is most populations have become specialized and most staffing has been drastically reduced due to budget constraints or vacancies in the staffing patterns. There should be no discontinuities or weaknesses in such assessments as they provide a window of opportunity for the perpetrator or criminal to attack or plan such an act as taking a hostage, escape or even to commit another crime while incarcerated and striking at another person to kill while already serving time for a crime.
Specialized populations such as protective custody prisoners, sex offenders, gang leaders and highly disruptive groups require intense security assessments at all times to adjust the risk factors placed within the environment or facility. Remember that institutional adjustments must be made to allow a safe and secure milieu. Personal safety is not an individual dimensional challenge but rather it is a multi-dimensional challenge that requires the use of many tools rather than just a basic shift or relocation of human resources or other logistic networks designed for safety purposes.
Rauf Aregbesola, Minister of Interior is designing basic multi-dimensional strategies to ensure better safety practices in our correctional centres to give inmates the confidence to feel safe and allows them to make adjustments in their presence to continue to feel safe throughout the day. Each correctional centre in the State offers a unique function within the correctional system – and are committed to keeping inmates, staff and the community safe.
Over recent years infrastructure changes have not been implemented to enhance prison security, access control, and to ensure safety measures are not updated and reviewed in response to evolving criminal activities.
Inwalomhe Donald writes from Lagos
