The federal government has revised the meal allowance for detainees in the Nigeria Correctional Service (NCoS).
This follows a recent viral video in which convicts complained about bad food in one of the correctional facilities in Calabar, Cross River State.
The NCoS spokesman, Umar Abubakar, stated this on Thursday, August 5, while fielding questions from journalists during the Strategic Communications Interagency Policy Committee’s (SCIPC) monthly press conference in Abuja.
According to Abubakar, the increase was the first stage of the review to offset the country’s rising food prices.
He said:
“The viral video is not a representation of Nigeria Correctional Service, nor is it a mandate of the service on reformation and rehabilitation of inmates. Let me make this known here that since the inception of the name change, significant progress has been made in reforming those who are in our custody.
“Four days ago, I granted an interview where we gave details on the alleged video. The NCoS has ordered for detailed investigation of the said video, which is going viral. And on the outcome of the investigation, I may not be able to speak much on that.
“And on the issue of the cost of food, the federal government has reviewed the feeding allowance of inmates in our custody with 50 per cent. And this is just the first phase of the review.”
According to the spokeswoman, the NCoS has created an environment in which inmates can achieve its mandate of reformation and rehabilitation.
He said:
“Let me say here that currently to ensure that we have what I refer to as public safety through our reformatory activities, we have over 1,000 of our inmates who are going through their various degree programmes, 282 doing their diploma and master’s degree programme, and six that are doing their PhD programme. Three of the PhD students are already writing their thesis.
“All this is geared towards our efforts to ensure that we change the psyche and behaviour of our inmates and to help their re-entry back to society.
“It is the care we give to these inmates in our custody that has provided a serene environment to help them learn skill acquisition across our custodial centre and to also pursue their educational programme.”