Jailbreaks: Commission blames congestion, inhuman treatment

The Public Complaints Commission (PCC) has said jailbreaks witnessed in the country are caused by over congestion of prisons and the ill-treatment of inmates. Speaking at a dialogue to provide solutions to jailbreaks in the country yesterday in Abuja, the chief commissioner of the PCC, Abimbola Ayo-Yusuf, said most prisons in Nigeria were built before […]

The Public Complaints Commission (PCC) has said jailbreaks witnessed in the country are caused by over congestion of prisons and the ill-treatment of inmates.

Speaking at a dialogue to provide solutions to jailbreaks in the country yesterday in Abuja, the chief commissioner of the PCC, Abimbola Ayo-Yusuf, said most prisons in Nigeria were built before independence, thus, do not have the strength to withstand current attacks.

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“The prisons were made to take a quarter of what they are taking. And I don’t think the treatment in prisons is right. When they don’t get properly fed, they get agitated; that is when they start thinking about getting out of the place. That is why there are jailbreaks,” he said

Yusuf added that there was a need to implement some changes in the judicial system as most inmates in the prisons are awaiting trial.

He also called for a separate prison for terrorists and kidnappers, adding, “Someone that did a minor thing should not be with those doing major crimes.”

He, however, said new correctional centres were fortified; hence jailbreaks would soon be a thing of the past.

On his part, the chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Public Petitions, Jerry Alagbaoso, said the type of food and the condition the inmates were subjected to were inhuman.