Facility for 648 inmates now harbours 2,024, Enugu prison controller laments

Controller of Prisons, Enugu State Command, Mr. Ndubuisi Ogbodo,
has expressed concerns over the high number of inmates in the
facility which had tripled its capacity.

Ogbodo spoke on Thursday in Enugu during presentation of a
baseline report on Decriminalisation and Declassification of Petty
Offences organised by Prisoners’ Rehabilitation and Welfare
Action.

The controller said it was disheartening that the facility with
a capacity of 648 inmates now have 2,024 inmates.

He said that the situation had made it impossible to classify
the inmates.

The controller, however, said that with proper classification of
petty offences, cases of congestion which have become the hallmark
of Nigerian prisons would be addressed.

Ogbodo said the situation in prison facilities had made it
necessary for the government to come up with alternative means of
addressing certain levels of wrongdoings in society.

He said that petty offences should be made to attract lesser
sanctions, including community service.

“Petty offences should be classified and defaulters should be
put under community service so that they are not mixed with
hardened criminals in jail,” he said.

(NAN)

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