TheCable

The senate has invited Ja’afaru Ahmed, comptroller-general of Nigerian Prisons Service (NPS), over the confinement of underaged offenders and infants with adults.

The decision of the upper legislative chamber was sequel to a motion sponsored by Victor Umeh, senator representing Anambra central.

While moving the motion on the floor of the senate on Wednesday, Umeh said keeping underage children in the same prisons as adult inmates would influence the former negatively.

“In every action concerning a child, whether undertaken by an individual, public or private body, institutions or services, court of law, or administrative or legislative authority, the best interest of the child shall be the primary consideration,” the senator said.

“Correctional homes and children’s homes are established for the purposes of remanding underage offenders and caring for children born within the prisons walls, respectively.

“The majority of these underage children opt to be tried in courts without any legal representation, following the advice of some over-zealous prosecutors, unaware of the dire consequences.”

On his part, Shehu Sani, senator representing Kaduna central, said the facilities in the prison have not been rehabilitated.

“As a former political prisoner, I’ve had the unfortunate privilege of passing through not less than seven to eight prisons in Nigeria. If there’s any intervention we can do as a government, is to provide facilities that will upgrade the existing prisons and makes it possible for them to accommodate juvenile when they find themselves there,” Sani said.

“The only thing that has changed in Nigerian prison system is the uniform and then the Black Maria that used to be under the custody of the police has been taken over by the prison service. But when you talk of the facilities, the workshops, the hospitals, the offices and even the detention cells are still colonial.

“Many of our people when they are in office, they knew very little about prison until they are being taken there and they will say this is how prison is. I heard the narrative of comrade Jang who happened to be in Jos Prison where former president Obasanjo was kept and I also happen to know that T. A orji was also a graduate of Kirikiri prisons.”

The senate urged the various security agencies that are involved in the arrest and detention of the juveniles to ensure that they are not incarcerated beyond 48 hours and when conviction is secured, they should be separated from the adults.