Ikoyi Custodial Centre empowers inmates with ‘waste to wealth’ initiative

Inmates
By Chinyere Nwachukwu
Lagos, March 16, 2020 (NAN)The Ikoyi Custodial Centre says efforts have been intensified in ensuring that its ‘waste to wealth’ initiative for the inmates was fully carried out.
Mr Rotimi Oladokun, the Public Relations Officer (PRO), Lagos Command of the Correctional Services, disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday in Lagos.
According to him, the initiative is part of the rehabilitative and reformative efforts of inmates nationwide by the Controller-General of Corrections, Ja’afaru Ahmed.
Oladokun added that with the passage of the Nigeria Correctional Service Act in 2019, the controller-general had directed all state commands to place emphasis on developing initiatives that would reform and remodel the inmates.
He said that the prison boss also harped on the need to de-emphasise punitive measures.
“As a result, the Controller of Corrections, Lagos State command, Sam Iyokorega, has directed officers-in-charge in his command to key into this transformational philosophy.
“It is, therefore, in this vein that the Ikoyi Custodial Centre, as part of its rehabilitation and reformative mandate has initiated the ‘waste to wealth’ initiative.
“Inmates are taught and empowered on the concept of turning discarded and disused materials, like tyres, plastics and wastes, generally into furniture and other household items, thereby empowering them with necessary skills to earn a living while in custody.
“They also manufacture paints, ICT development, digital marketing and many other skills. They also have a theatre group. Last year, 24 of these inmates were inducted as theatre practitioners into the National Association of Theatre Practitioners.
“They wrote a play and presented same in this custodial centre,’’ he said.
On issues of awaiting trial of inmates, Oladokun further told NAN that the development was more especially in the urban areas.
According to him, some causative elements can be as a result of large population in the city centres, adding that economic migration of people to seek greater opportunities had been discovered to be one of the reasons for high crime rate in the country.
He, however, added that when defendants went through adjudication process, they did not necessarily have to end up in the custodial centres.
The defendants could be given non-custodial sentences, thereby assisting in decreasing the population of the inmates in the command.
“As stakeholders too, we also need to partner with the Nigeria Correctional Service to offer inmates, various informative, rehabilitation and re-integration platforms or opportunities while in custody.
“They also need to partner with the service to teach skills so that when they finally regain freedom, they will be able to contribute their own quota to national development.
“I also think that there is the need for speedy trial of defendants,’’ he told NAN. (NAN)
CCN/WAS
Edited by ‘Wale Sadeeq