A Bill seeking to establish a Correction, Reformation and Re-integration Centre that provides support services for prisons (SB.308) scaled second reading in the Senate after a lead debate at the plenary session of Wednesday, 24 January 2018. The Bill has been further referred to the Committee on Interior for legislative action.
Leading the debate on the Bill, Sen. Gershom Bassey (PDP: Cross River) stated that the bill intended to bring the Nigerian Prisons system and administration in line with the objectives of the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, 1990 which aims at implementing non-custodial measures as an alternative to strict terms of imprisonment and rehabilitation of prisoners.
Sen. Bassey, who is also the Bill sponsor explained that the Nigerian Prison Act, 1972 had no provision for the reformation, correction and rehabilitation of inmates resulting to imprisonment as the only option for punishable offences. Although he recognized the collaborative effort of the Nigerian Prison Service and Non-Governmental Organizations to correct and rehabilitate prison inmates, he was of the opinion that an enacted law would be more helpful in this regard.
Lastly, he informed the Senate that the Bill if passed would address the issue of prison congestion in Nigeria and would provide for schemes such as the Half-Way House Scheme, Home Detention Scheme and Work Release Scheme that would ensure that prisoners are adequately reformed and suitable for re-integration into the community.
