Nig Army Denies Complicity In Kuje Jail Break

The Nigerian Army has dismissed insinuations of complicity in the July 5, 2022 jailbreak in Kuje Correctional Centre, Abuja.

Chief of Army Staff, General Taoreed Lagbaja disclosed this in Abuja during the investigative hearing into a motion which mandated NCOS to account for the inmates who escaped from the Custodial Centre.

The motion which also sought the decongestion of Correctional Centres across the country was jointly organised by the House Committee on Reformatory Institutions, Justice, Police Affairs and Human Rights, Chaired Mr. Chinedu Ogah.

In his remarks, General Lagbaja who was represented by Assistant Director, Commercial Law, Directorate of Army Legal Services, Major Peter Ogbeiya, blamed the incident on inadequate security facilities such as a low fence and the absence of CCTV cameras.

“The place where Kuje prison is located is more of a built-up area.”

While noting that the Nigerian Army was only playing a complementary role to the Correctional Centers, he however observed that the Service had a rotation of troops on the day the incident took place.

He also affirmed that prior to that incident, the Nigerian Army wrote series of letters to the Comptroller General of the Correctional Service concerning their observations and measures that would enhance security.

On his part, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation, AGF, Lateef Fagbemi, said the correctional service had been removed from the exclusive to the concurrent list, and that states were expected to take up responsibility of decongesting prisons.

The Minister, who was represented by a director in the Ministry, Mrs. Ayoola Daniel also explained that the Ministry of Justice has over the years made frantic efforts towards decentralization of the correctional service with a view to allow States establish and manage their own correctional centres.

Also speaking, Assistant Commandant General, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC, Mr. Philip Ayuba urged the Committee to look into how lawyers who are in the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) could be engaged in providing services for prisoners.

He called for the need to embrace alternative conflict resolution, as this would also help to decongest the prisons.

“We also suggest that those who have stayed more than a year or two should be given amnesty. They need to give the inmates better training so that those who leave can find better things to do”.

In his presentation, Deputy Comptroller General of Nigeria Correctional Service in charge of Training and Staff Development, Mr. Tukur Mohammed Ahmad, affirmed that decongestion of custodial centres has become the concern of all and sundry partly due to the unending challenges it causes to the criminal justice system in Nigeria.

The NCOS said there are 265 custodial centres across the country, with the capacity of 64,192 against a total inmate population of 78,519 as at March 18, 2024.

According to the Service out of this actual inmate population, 70 percent represent persons on awaiting trial.

“For us to speedily decongest our Correctional centres in the country, we need the completion of the 3000 capacity new custodial centres that are being built across the six geopolitical zones and we need a lot of money for the Service”.

Earlier, Chairman of the Commitee, Mr. Ogah who observed that the Correctional Service is key to Nigeria’s security, assured that the Committee would do what was right by ensuring decongestion while urging stakeholders to make effective contributions to do what was needed.

Declaring open the investigative hearing, the Speaker, Tajudeen Abbas reassured Nigerians of the 10th Assembly’s determination to undertake comprehensive investigative hearings on erring public institutions to ensure that inherent sanctions and recommendations are enforced for greater results in line with the legislative agenda on oversight duties.

Dr Abbas who was represented by the Minority Whip, Aliyu Madaki noted that the exercise is a fact-finding event and that the investigative hearing provides a crucial legislative space for Nigerians to get to the root of the overcrowding nature of Correctional Centres in addition to the inmates that escaped from Kuje Custodial Facility, two years ago which left the nation in utter embarrassment.

Dr. Abbas, who assured all the stakeholders that the essence of investigative hearing is not to witch-hunt any institution or anyone, explained that the ultimate objective of the investigative hearing was to “examine the activities of the correctional service in order to promote accountability, transparency and responsiveness in the running of the agency for enhanced service delivery, contribute significantly to the overall progress and development of the country”.

Oduyemi Odumade, Edited By Grace Namiji