Aregbesola Promises To Decongest Prisons In Six Months

Mr Rauf Aregbesola

The Federal Government has set up a committee on prison decongestion, Minister of Interior Rauf Aregbesola disclosed.

The target is to decongest the prisons within six months, he said.

According to the minister, states will be carried along in the exercise as 90 per cent of awaiting trial inmates are violators of state offences.

Aregbesola said the committee had been working with the Attorney-General of the Federation towards decongesting correctional facilities.

He spoke at a public hearing organised by the National Assembly Joint Committee on Appropriation.

The minister said: “In no distant future, we will reduce the issue of awaiting trial considerably; as we are also working with the governors on that.

“Close to 90 per cent of the awaiting trial inmates are violators of state laws and so are essentially the responsibility of the various state governments.

“So, we need to carry them along in devising strategies to decongest the facilities. In six months, this will be put behind us.”

Aregbesola said there were 75, 000 inmates in the correctional facilities.