Senate Committee Increases Prison Inmate Daily Feeding From N450 To N1000
Afnews Editor
Oct 27, 2021
The Senate Committee on Interior, on Wednesday, increased the daily feeding allowance of the Nigerian Correctional Service from its current N450 per person to a minimum of N1,000 per day.
READ ALSO: Bloodbath At Wedding: Bandits Kill 13, Abduct Many In Midnight Attack In Kaduna Community
Officials of the NCS were in the Senate on Wednesday to defend the 2022 budget of the agency.
READ ALSO: How a Catholic Priest Slumped and Died While Delivering Homily in Delta Church
They proposed an increment of the daily feeding allowance to N750 but the panel which described the amount as grossly inadequate jerked it up to N1,000 in line with the current economic reality.
READ ALSO: Stop Giving Money To Policemen In Abia- Police PRO Tells Motorists
The committee pledged to undertake an upward review of inmates' feeding cost from N450 to N1000 per day.
A member of the committee, Senator Betty Apiafi, moved the motion for the increment and she was collectively supported by all members of the panel.
READ ALSO: JUST IN: Man City's Gundogan tests positive for coronavirus
She argued that the amount was grossly inadequate to feed the inmates.
READ ALSO: "Ikwuano Locked Down For Alex OttiÔÇØ - Monday Ubani SAN Sends Strong Message To Opposition
Apiafi said, "You are dealing with adults. How can they survive with that amount? When you send convicts to prisons, instead of reforming them, they become more hardened because of they way they are treated, particularly food.ÔÇØ
READ ALSO: SUN FM 91.3 Igbere Music Competition Commences | SEE HOW TO PARTICIPATE
The Chairman assured that the committee would make adequate provisions for the feeding of the inmates.
READ ALSO: Dickson offers automatic employment to 104 first class graduands
Meanwhile, the panel said it would meet with the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Ibrahim Tanko Muhammad, the Nigerian Bar Association and other stakeholders over the decongestion of custodial centres and the situation of awaiting trial inmates.
READ ALSO: ABIANS CRY OUT AS THE KEKE OPERATIONAL TIME CUT BITES HARD
The chairman of the committee, Senator Kashim Shettima, said there are 66,000 inmates in custodial centres across the country, out of which 47,000 are awaiting trials.
READ ALSO: Mother's Day: Abia Government Liaison Officer Honours Women, Says Mothers Shape Future Leaders
He said the situation has resulted in congestion of the centres nationwide.
READ ALSO: Ofuji Ndị Igbo Sets 2026 Agenda, Promises Greater Community Engagement
The lawmaker added that decongesting the custodial centres has become imperative to make them habitable and truly reform the inmates.
READ ALSO: B00M: Nnamdi Kanu's Collaborators Have Been Revealed - FG Says, Vows Not To Spare Any
He said, "We have 66,000 inmates in the custodial cetres across the country, and that 47,559 of them had not been convicted (awaiting trials).ÔÇØ
READ ALSO: Bloodbath At Wedding: Bandits Kill 13, Abduct Many In Midnight Attack In Kaduna Community
He said, "We can really solve this issue with required synergy with all the stakeholders, the judiciary, the legislature and the executive.
READ ALSO: How a Catholic Priest Slumped and Died While Delivering Homily in Delta Church
"We can easily decongest the prison and make it habitable and a place that will truly reform Nigerians, not to transform them into hardened criminals.ÔÇØ
READ ALSO: Stop Giving Money To Policemen In Abia- Police PRO Tells Motorists
On the fortification of correctional centres against jailbreak, Shettima said: "This is something we emphasised. There are certain security issues that cannot be discussed in the open. But is it an issue we are squarely addressing.ÔÇØ
Related Stories
Bloodbath At Wedding: Bandits Kill 13, Abduct Many In Midnight Attack In Kaduna Community
"Ikwuano Locked Down For Alex OttiÔÇØ - Monday Ubani SAN Sends Strong Message To Opposition
Mother's Day: Abia Government Liaison Officer Honours Women, Says Mothers Shape Future Leaders
Why ICPC Is Prosecuting Mike Ozekhome Over a London Property Deal That Has Shaken Nigeria's Legal Circle | READ DETAILS
Ofuji Ndị Igbo Sets 2026 Agenda, Promises Greater Community Engagement
How a Catholic Priest Slumped and Died While Delivering Homily in Delta Church
""
— Afnews Editor