By Emegwoako C. Paschal
Mr. Rauf Aregbesola, Minister of Interior, says he will meet with state governors to agree on the mass release of at least 30% of inmates from correctional centers across the country. Aregbesola stated this in an interview on Sunday, October 9th in Abuja.
The minister stated that the interface was required because more than 90% of the offenders were being jailed for violating various state laws.
Aregbesola also stated that more than 70% of the 75,635 convicts already incarcerated were awaiting trial.
The minister stated that federal offenders were significantly fewer than 10% of those in detention, adding that the vast majority of those in custody had violated state laws.
He stated that they were so subject to the legal authority of their respective states.
The minister went on to say that decongesting the nation’s 253 detention facilities was required because some of the detainees had no justification to be in custody.
As a result, Aregbesola stated that all parties must work together to create a “better-structured criminal justice administration; else, we would be left with packed and overcrowded institutions.”
According to him, some of the awaiting trial convicts have stayed longer than the legal maximum sentence for the offense for which they were arrested.
Aregbesola stated that the interior ministry was doing all possible to decongest the detention facilities.
He stated that the meeting with the governors would aid in critically reviewing the situation and discharging inmates who should have been released.
