The Controller of Prisons in Benue State, David Pevigo, has deplored the high number of awaiting trial inmates in prisons across the state. Pevigo told The Point on the phone from Makurdi that the situation had compounded the problem of congestion in prisons in the state. He added that the development was “very unhealthy” for a nation seeking to grow and develop.
According to him, out of a population of 1,193 inmates across the three prisons in the state, only 314 had been convicted by the courts, while the remaining 879 were awaiting trial. He said that the prison situation was disheartening, describing it as “a microcosm of what is happening across the country.”
the development is “very unhealthy” for a nation seeking to grow and develop…out of a population of 1,193 inmates across the three prisons in the state, only 314 have been convicted, while the remaining 879 are awaiting trial
The prison boss regretted that most of the productive labour force of the country were languishing in jail, adding that in Benue, the majority of those in prisons were between the ages of 18 and 35 years.
”The country’s workforce is wasting away and we need to sit up; the situation is very serious and needs urgent attention,” he said.
Pevigo said that the task of funding the prisons was enormous and called on individuals and non-governmental organisations to support the prisons authorities to execute the mandate of reforming the inmates.
The prison boss added that the prisons had expanded its mandate from mere solitary confinement to corrective and training centres. “We have shifted from being punitive to providing corrections to inmates.
In fact, the prisons are now viewed as human refineries; it is our responsibility to reform and prepare the inmates for reintegration into society,” he said. Pevigo disclosed that the service had established two farm centres, located at Jato-Aka and Iga Okpaya, as part of its efforts to contribute to the nation’s food security programme.
