Two inmates of the Nigerian Prisons Service have enrolled for their doctorate degrees.
Spokesman of the Service, DCP Francis Enobore stated this Monday in Abuja at a media engagement it organized with Prisoners Rehabilitation and Welfare Action PRAWA.
“One of our female inmates recently graduated with a first class in educational management while in Port Harcourt, two of our inmates have gained admission for their PhD programmes”, Enobore said.
PRAWA’s Executive Director advocated a comprehensive prison reform saying whether the prisons system is moved to the concurrent list or not, without adequate reforms, the problems confronting the prisons remain.
“The position of PRAWA on this issue is that prison reform should be comprehensive.
From the communities, local and state governments, and different sectors, attempts should be made to ensure that the desired reforms are generated, “ Uju Agomoh.
“We are asking for a shift in terms of the mindset that even if the prisons are run by the central government as it is today, that should not stop state governments, communities and local governments from engaging and providing support.”
She urged the federal government to pay attention to “lack of effective coordination among the various agencies in the justice delivery system.
The NPS spokesman said prison development is a matter of leadership commitment, and not necessarily a shift in responsibility among tiers of government.
“It is a question of perception and leadership. I have mentioned a number of improvements that the NPS has recorded under the current administration.
“Before now, the situation was horrible, but within a short period of time we have seen tremendous government intervention, we have seen increased advocacy, we have seen stakeholders’ interests coming up to do what they should do ordinarily to get things right.
“Within the period we were having serious challenges and now that things are beginning to pick up, prison service has not shifted from the Exclusive List to the Concurrent List.
Last year, President Muhammadu Buhari declared a state of emergency in the service, especially because of the problem of congestion and other structural issues.