The Senate Committee on Interior has proposed raising the daily feeding cost of inmates in correctional facilities.
This was the agreement when the Comptroller General of the Nigerian Correctional Service, Mr Haliru Nababa appeared before the committee to defend the Correctional Service’s 2022 budget.
According to the Committee, there are 66,340 inmates in correctional facilities with an alarming 47,559 still not convicted and awaiting trial.
As a result, Committee members expressed concern about the welfare of inmates, specifically feeding.
“When you send a criminal to prison, the person becomes worse when the person is coming out, instead of becoming better, so I am thinking, Mr Chairman, this issue of feeding should be looked at properly,” a member of the committee, Senator Chukwuka Utazi stated.
The Comptroller General of the NCS responded that the current daily feeding cost of N450 for each prisoner has been increased to N750, as proposed in the 2022 budget estimates.
He stated that this development has resulted in the majority of custodial facilities becoming overcrowded and falling short of the global standards for correctional services.
Senator Kashim Shettima, the committee’s chairman, and members of the committee described the N750 daily feeding cost as intolerable.
Senator Utazi, speaking on behalf of the committee, stated that the N750 was unsustainable due to the high cost of consumables.
Senator Ibrahim Oloriegbe, who seconded the motion, stated that the N1,000 proposed should be the bare minimum and must be reflected in the final correctional service budget to be passed.