Have you ever wondered why ex-inmates return to crime despite passing through correctional homes? I decided to investigate if the correctional facilities are also ‘correct’ for them to correct offenders effectively: it took eight months.

THE DRY WORKSHOP

For Security reason, let me not be too descriptive. Going through the two gates and the corridor that passes through the keeper’s office to the pillar before one turns to the side where the workshop is, the medium-sized workshop, built with bricks and net to allow ventilation, is there. The ‘off-white’ and the green colours give it a little bit of life to show that humans use it.

The shoemaking section is closer to an exit straight ahead, with the tailoring section down. The barbing section, with a stool, is just three steps away. The carpentry section has a table and a tool to hold planks when sawing. The electrical section is at a side with a table to put tools and items for repair.


One needs no prophet to declare that the workshop cannot cater for the vocational training of about 160 convicted inmates in there, let alone additional (about) 700 persons awaiting trial. It is not only ‘dry’; it is the direct opposite of what the Nigerian Correctional Service Act 2019 entails.

On July 31, 2019, the Nigerian Prisons Service changed its name to the Nigerian Correctional Service. The paradigm shift is purely nomenclatural as implementation cannot stimulate corrections in the Nigerian criminal justice system. One wonders where the billions of naira appropriated for the Correctional Service in the 2023 and past years went into.

OUR EXPERIENCES: FORMER INMATES

I tracked some former inmates who recently left the Olokuta Custodial Centre. Tunde Ayelabowo (not his real name) was sentenced for stealing and conspiracy. ‘It was a heist due to frustration,’ he claimed. Before his arrest, he was into tiling. He spent some years at ‘Olokuta’ before his release. He shared his experience at ‘Ile Nla’ (Big house) with The Hope.

“The workshop was dry when I was there. I could have learnt more about repairing and wiring if they had the tools and someone to teach, but there were none.

“Correctional centres cannot correct you unless you choose to correct yourself.”

‘They train in carpentry, barbing, and I think shoemaking, but these are not the skills I want, and not all the needed equipment are available. But sometimes, churches or these NGOs can come to talk and train us,” Ayelabowo revealed.

His story was corroborated by another former inmate at the centre, who simply identified himself as Deji. A terrible fight got him to the big house.


“Workshop is free and not mandatory. Only a few people interested in any of the trainings would go. But when people like philanthropists came around to talk to us, they usually come with several items and gifts,” he explained.

The commercial driver said he was not interested in vocational training because the workshop was ‘dry’. “I was a driver before going there. Is it barbing, tailoring, or carpentry I want to learn? Even if I want to, it’s not the way they train there. Nothing is there, my brother. The best prayer is not to be sent there

“We do not have any warder to train us. Inmates usually train others, especially those who have the skills before coming to the centre. Sometimes, some ‘guys’ awaiting trial would come around.”

WHY REHABILITATION OF INMATES FAILS – WARDERS

Two servicemen at Olokuta Correctional Centre, with a plea to remain anonymous, also confirmed what Ayelabowo and Deji said. One of the officers (Let’s call him Dayo) has spent over a decade in the service, while the other (let’s call him Kunle) is nearing a decade.

Officer Dayo stressed that correctional centres are “not correct because right from the top (Headquarters), things are not correct.”


He bemoaned that the service has not recruited into specialised departments, such as those that will handle vocational training for inmates, in a very long time, lamenting that service officers who handle rehabilitation and reintegration of the inmates also need ‘rehabilitation’ as they are denied motivational incentives.


READ THE REST OF THE INVESTIGATION HERE

https://www.thehopenewspaper.com/olokuta-inside-nigerias-failed-correctional-centre/

This one dey Akure now

Don't look for a healthy tooth in an unclean mouth. The nation itself is a failure.

CuteBidemi:

Officer Dayo stressed that correctional centres are “not correct because right from the top (Headquarters), things are not correct.”

That's the summary of the situation.
Nigeria my Country

Olokuta Prison/Correctional Center, Akure, Ondo State