FEC Approves 3.5bn Naira For Car Purchase To Decongest Prisons
The approval was in response to the request in a memo presented at a FEC meeting on Wednesday by the Minister of Interior, General Abdulrahaman Dambazau (rtd).
General Dambazau noted that the procurement of vehicles was part of requirements needed to strengthen the criminal justice system.
He told State House correspondents after the meeting in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital, that at least 75% of an estimated 65,000 inmates were awaiting trial.
The Interior Minister blamed their continued detention on lack of logistics and availability of vehicles to transport them to at least 5,000 courts from prisons within the country.
On September 24, an official of the Prisons Service in Ilesa Prison in Osun State, said 454 out of 582 inmates are awaiting trial, a situation he said was as a result of huge challenges facing the Prisons Service.
The officer in charge of the Prisons, Deputy Comptroller Ope Fanimikun, said that presenting 454 inmates for trial in 72 courts was a huge challenge for officers.
He said that the Prisons service had just four vehicles, the newest of which was given to the prisons four years ago.
The Deputy Comptroller sought the support of Nigerians in form of vehicles’ donation to ensure that inmates were presented for trials to decongest the prisons.
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