A former Governor of Edo State Adams Oshiomhole says he now understands why some people who are convicted for minor offences end up becoming hardened criminals after experiencing the harsh and inhumane conditions of the nation’s correctional facilities.
Oshiomhole, a serving senator, spoke after the Senate had expressed dismay at the shocking revelation that the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCS) spends more money on feeding its security dogs than it does for inmates.
The NCS has over 81,000 prisoners in its custody, most of whom are awaiting trial.
The Chairman of the Joint Senate and House of Representatives Committee on Interior, Senator Adams Oshiomhole (APC, Edo North), had grilled the Comptroller General of the NCS, Haliru Nababa, during the 2024 budget defence session in Abuja on Thursday.
Oshiomhole was astonished to learn that the NCS has 900 dogs in its service, and allocates N800 per day for each dog’s feeding, while only N750 per day is budgeted for each inmate, at N250 per meal.
He questioned why “dogs are better fed than inmates in prisons, many of whom are awaiting trial.”
He also told Nababa not to be defensive, but to admit that it was an appropriation issue.
