Interior Ministry Investigates Alledged Corruption, Gross Violations In NCoS

The Minister of Interior Dr Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo has reiterated the Ministry’s determination to ensure sanity in Correctional centres for public safety.

The Minister stated this in Abuja while declaring open the 2nd public hearing of an independent investigative panel on alleged corruption and gross violations in the Correctional Service.

He re-emphasized the need for holistic reforms in the Service and urged the committee to identify issues contributing to violations in the service.

The Minister also urged the panel to uphold justice and ensure zero tolerance to corruption noting that the core responsibility of Correctional officers is to be humane and not to mistreat the vulnerable.

He noted that excessive Correctional centres would increase supervision challenges, which may lead to potential abuse.

“Realistically speaking, do we.need 256 Correctional centres that we have? The answer is no because the more correctional centres, the more the pressure and the stress in terms of supervision and control and when there is a problem of supervision and control, abuse becomes inevitable”.

The Minister also called for psychological evaluation for Correctional officers for effective management of inmates.

The Permanent Secretary in the ministry Dr Magdalene Ajani who stated that the findings and recommendations will serve as a foundation for meaningful reforms in the Correctional Service reaffirmed that justice and accountability would be served at the end of the investigation.

The investigative Panel Secretary, Dr Uju Agomoh, who commended the Minister of Interior Dr Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo for his support, stressed that the panel would ensure thorough investigation into the issues concerned.

The panel was set up to respond to growing allegations of corruption, violations, and irregularities in the Nigeria Correctional Service.

Nkiru Njemanze, Edited By Grace Namiji