Governor Udom Emmanuel of Akwa Ibom State has assured the Federal Government of his administration’s preparedness to assist in the ongoing reformation and decongestion of Correctional Service Centers in the state.
The gesture, according to the governor, will manifest through donation of land to facilitate relocation of the Uyo center, providing facilities to boost skill acquisition programmes of the centers and payment of fines for inmates incarcerated on minor offences.
This was the high point of discussion when Governor Emmanuel granted audience to the Presidential Committee on Correctional Service Reform and Decongestion in Akwa Ibom State led by the Chairman, Justice Ishaq Bello at Executive Council Chamber, Government House, Uyo.
The Governor who commended the committee on the tour of Correctional Centers across the country, explained that the reforms and decongestion of the centers has become expedient considering the sordid conditions of inmates occasioned by overcrowding, long years of neglect and deterioration of facilities at the centers and expressed optimism that the committee will work assiduously to change the narrative of the centers and save it from impending collapse.
“There is problem in the Uyo Correctional Center because of the ravine. I’ve told several CJ’s that have visited there that ecological fund need to be accessed to work on the huge ravine there. We need to consider addressing the ecological disaster or relocating the Uyo Prison and if we’re relocating the Prison, all we can do is to provide land free for the project”, he explained.
Governor Emmanuel commended the vision of the federal government in rebranding the centers as Correctional Service Center and setting up the reformatiom and decongestion Committee to ensure that the service lives up to it new name, urging the committee to be thorough in it vested assignment to enable the federal government achieve it set goals for the centers .
Earlier, Justice Ishaq Bello had said that the committee was mandated to assess the problems hampering the smooth operations of the centers with a view to proffering solutions towards making the Correctional Service Centers provide services in line with international best practices .
Justice Bello, acknowledged that the awareness created during the tour towards decongesting the correctional service was a capacity building effort towards expediting the adjudication process in order to eliminate unnecessary incarceration in the centers.
Justice Bello commended the Governor for mobilising the entire state apparatus of government to accord the delegation a good reception and solicited a good working relationship from the state government, assuring that the committee will deliver on its mandate.
