Senators took turns to express displeasure towards the Nigerian Correctional Services as it told the lawmakers that it uses N750 daily to feed an inmate, while N800 is allocated for the feeding of a dog.
The senators also expressed disappointed at the Nigerian Correctional Services over the poor treatment of prisoners in its facilities nationwide.
Chairman of the Senate Committee on Interior, Senator Adams Oshiomole, on Thursday in Abuja,
during the 2024 Budget defence session with the Comptroller General of Correctional Centres stressed that that the institutional name change has not resulted in a change of standards. According to him, inmates are still been dehumanised. The lawmaker wondered how inmates can be fed with N750 per meal, at a time when there is an increase in the price of food items.
Responding to the questions on the operation of the service, the Comptroller General of the Nigerian Correctional Service, Haliru Nababa revealed that Correctional Centres currently has 81,358 inmates of which 53,362 are Awaiting Trials.
Nababa told lawmakers that the country spends 22billion Naira yearly to feed Inmates, dogs and on personnel on training.
He explained that the past administration had increased the feeding cost for inmates from N450 to N750 per day, which according to him is still inadequate. He therefore pleaded with the lawmakers to intervene as the service had already requested for an increase in the feeding cost for the inmates.
The boss of the Nigerian Correctional Services added that a letter had been written to the President for an upward review of the feeding cost to N3,000 per day for each inmate.
He revealed that the Service has 75 medical doctors and consultants, 6 veterinary doctors who cover Lagos, Kaduna, and Owerri, explaining that some of them cover more than one state and the move from place to place.
Oshomole emphasised that the Senate Committee will not be in a hurry to “rubber stamp” or approve any budget until they received satisfactory answers.
The Senator asked for a breakdown on the number of inmates and security dogs they have at the moment and how they are fed on a daily basis.
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