Managing custodial facilities in Nigeria has become more difficult due to the economic challenges in the country, the Deputy Controller of Corrections of the custodial facility in Suleja, Niger State, Ibrahim Yau, has said.

Yau stated this recently during a visit by officials of the Legal Aid Council of Nigeria (LACoN) to the facility as part of efforts to improve the conditions of inmates and provide free legal services.

According to the Assistant Director Press of LACoN, Amaka Agbai, the DCC lamented the poor daily feeding allowance which is insufficient to provide decent meals for the inmates, adding that the centre’s capacity of 250 inmates has been stretched to 405.

He commended NGOs for their assistance to the custodial centres because “the government cannot do it alone.”

Responding, the head of the decongestion unit of LACoN headquarters, Barr Oliver Chukwuma assured that the council will continue to support the decongestion of correctional centres, adding that the Director General, Aliyu Bagudu Abubakar, believes there is a need to adopt visual hearing to drastically reduce the cost of running custodial centres.

Earlier, the team interacted with their old clients and briefed them on the stage of their case to enable them to proceed with their bail conditions.

About 32 inmates between the ages of 18 and 35 years were interviewed.

The inmates were alleged to have committed offences ranging from theft, joint negligence, trespass, conspiracy, criminal breach of trust and misappropriation. (Daily Trust)