TheCable

The federal government has set up an audit panel to assess the level of security at custodial centres across the country.

Sola Fasure, media adviser to Rauf Aregbesola, minister of interior, disclosed this in a statement on Friday.

According to him, Aregbesola, while inaugurating the audit panel, noted that its report will identify the fault lines in the security setup and penetration levels of the custodial centres.

The minister was quoted to have said that the vulnerability audit would “identify the weakness in our security setup and will help to put in place an effective structure to assist us in better securing our facilities against future external aggression”.

“In the past, the challenges to the facilities were usually internal insurrections which our system had been primed to deal with,” he said.

“But this new challenge, starting with the #EndSARS riots of 2020, is an armed invasion by gunmen, in large numbers, bearing sophisticated weapons and military grade ordinances.

“They overrun the place, blow up huge holes on the perimeter fence and overpower our security system.

“We are determined to eliminate the threat from these attackers and ensure that our facilities are no longer vulnerable.

“Anyone who breached the custodial facilities is simply toiling with the sovereignty of Nigeria and must not live to regret such actions.”

Speaking on the exercise, Haliru Nababa, controller-general of the Nigerian Correctional Service, said teams would be inaugurated in each of the six geopolitical zones and an interim report submitted in the next one week.

“Immediately we leave this venue, we are heading back to the office to operationalise this assignment,” he said.

“In the next one week, we are submitting an interim report of the audit and the full report will be submitted in eight weeks’ time.

“We are aware of the embarrassment the frequent external attacks have on our reputation as a service and as a country. We are assuring the minister that our officers are ready to combat all attacks on our facilities.

“Already, the service has sent the first batch of 150 armed personnel for training at a military formation in Kontagora. Others are billed to complete their training in the next couple of weeks.”