Nigerian prison service changed to ‘Nigerian correctional service’

President Muhammadu Buhari has signed into law, a bill changing the name of the Nigerian prison service to Nigerian correctional service.

Ita Enang, senior special assistant to the president on national assembly matters (senate), disclosed this in a statement.

Enang said according to the law, correctional service has two main faculties: custodial service and non-custodial service.

He said among the functions of the custodial service are: custody and take control of persons legally interned in safe, secure and humane conditions; conveying remand persons to and from courts in motorised formations; identifying the existence and causes of anti-social behaviours of inmates; conducting risk and needs assessment aimed at developing appropriate correctional treatment methods for reformation, rehabilitation and reintegration; implementing reformation and rehabilitation programmes to enhance the reintegration of inmates back into the society.

Others are empowering inmates through the deployment of educational and vocational skills training programmes, and facilitating incentives and income generation through custodial centres, farms and industries; administering borstal and related institutions; and providing support to facilitate the speedy disposal of cases of persons awaiting trial.

In a statement, Enang said: “The non-custodial faculty of the correctional service is responsible for the administration of non-custodial measures, namely: community Service, probation, parole, restorative justice measures and such other measures as a court of competent jurisdiction may order. Restorative Justice measure approved in the Act include victim-offender mediation, family group conferencing, community mediation and other conciliatory measures as may be deemed necessary pre-trial, trial during imprisonment or even post- imprisonment stages.”

He said the president has also approved changing the name of the Federal University of Agriculture, Makurdi, Benue state, to Joseph Sarwuan Tarka University, Makurdi.