SPARING A THOUGHT FOR PRISON INMATES
We have sufficient number of Nigerians speaking out on the poor state of infrastructure, unemployment, inflation, corruption, among others. Sadly, however, no one seems to be worrying about the shortage of something that is quite essential to social justice. Few are concerned about the state of our prison and welfare of prison inmates in the country. Admittedly, peaceful co-existence is only guaranteed in the atmosphere of wilful submission to the rule of law governing the society as it is often said that an environment that has no law binding its existence cannot indict anyone of offence.
Prison is an institution created by the law to provide rehabilitation and correctional facility for those who violated the law as a punitive measure. Considering this, one is compelled to ask how the society perceive prison experience and how ex-convicts are integrated back into the society.
There have been instances where ex-convicts came out to become better citizens, while majority of others further consolidate on criminal acts that previously sent them into prison. In many instances, society seems to further compound the plight of ex-convicts by their stigmatisation. Hardly will anyone want to associate with them after release, thus making their re-integration a mirage. It is bad enough that society avoids them like plague, but worse that their immediate and extended families become laughing stock in their immediate environment.
The origin of modern prisons services in Nigeria dated back to 1861. The intention of the colonial government in establishing prison was to protect their businesses as well as secure the activities of the missionaries. To this end, the acting governor of the colony, who was then a prominent British merchant in Lagos, formed a police force of about 25 constables. This was followed by the establishment in Lagos, four courts in 1863, namely: a police court to resolve petty disputes, a criminal court to try more serious cases, a slave court to try cases arising from their efforts to abolish the trade in slaves and commercial court to resolve disputes among merchants or traders.
The responsibilities of these courts and police during colonial era necessitated the need for prison to compliment the duo. The 1872, the Broad Street prison was established with a capacity for about 300 inmates. The colonial prisons at this stage was not designed to reform anyone. There was no systematic penal policy for which direction could be sought for penal administration, instead prisoners were used for public works and other menial jobs as dictated by the colonial administration. The need for unification of prison in Nigeria led to the termination of Native Authority Prisons in 1968.
Consequently, in 1972, Decree nine established the need to introduce specified units to take care of specific areas of prison services. Technical division was charged with the responsibility of general administration, provision of logistics and supervision of prison investments. Inspectorate division was saddled with activities such as staff recruitment, deployment, training promotion and discipline. The treatment of inmates/training and rehabilitation was the responsibility of welfare division.
Besides, the division sees to the medical needs of the prisons, while interfacing between the prison and voluntary (humanitarian) organisations that help in treatment and rehabilitation of prisoners. This division has additional responsibility of keeping the prison environment healthy and conducive for inmates while providing them with opportunity to acquire vocational skills such as tailoring, carpentry, painting, etc., in the course of their prison terms.
In terms of rehabilitation, Nigeria’s prison looks like a bad solution. Over the years, the welfare of prison inmates have deteriorated as many such prisons do not meet the minimum standard of treatment that should be given to prisoners. Other rights violated include absence of minimum feeding, allocation of accommodation, medical facility and other needed provisions or logistics. Until Lagos State among few other states of the federation donated brand new Toyota Coaster buses to convey prison inmates awaiting trial, oven or heat entrapped Black Maria lorries were fashionable means of moving inmates around.
Many prisons are congested with attendant facility decay, thus jeorpadising the life of inmates. In recent time, many incidence of jail breaks have been traced to the poor welfare conditions of inmates. In Gombe State it was reported that about 669 inmates are to be treated for scabies ( a disease prevalent in places like Nigeria, with over-populated prisons).
In present day Nigeria where latrines are being phased out, it is disgusting that bucket latrines which constitute serious health hazard are still in use in some of prisons, while litt In as much as the prison should not be a palace, it should equally not be a place where inmates should experience hell on earth. Bolaji Odumade, Lagos State Ministry of Information and Strategy, Alausa, Lagos