The Minister of Interior, Hon Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, has warned the personnel of the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS) that he will tolerate any form of negligence of duty or sabotage in the efforts to secure the Custodial Centres across the country, urging them to take their jobs seriously or be shown the way out.
He also revealed that the Federal Government would undertake a comprehensive audit of NCoS to ascertain the state of the inmates and facilities to guide the government
on appropriate intervention.
Tunji-Ojo spoke at the national headquarters of NCoS in Abuja on Wednesday night. He was also at the Kuje Minimum Custodial Centre, Abuja, to inspect the facility.
He warned that he would not tolerate sabotage from the personnel.
There have been a series of jailbreaks in custodial centres across the country in the last few years, while the issue of jail congestion remains unresolved.
“We are ready to show the door to whoever wants to sabotage us,” he said.
The Minister said he was at the Ministry to implement the ‘Renewed Hope’ agenda of President Bola Tinubu and would not allow anyone to sabotage his efforts.
He vowed to make the Service “a correctional institution rather than a condemnation service.”
He also promised a lot of reforms in the Service, soliciting the support of the personnel to actualise the reforms.
Earlier, at the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), the minister raised concerns about the lack of correct data on expatriates in the country.
He also promised to look into several agreements the NIS had with service providers, adding that those agreements were holding the Service back in actualising its mandates.
“Any agreements (entered into by NIS) that is holding us back as a nation must go,” the minister said.
Tunji-Ojo stressed the need to reduce the waiting period to get an international passport, lamenting that Nigerians spend months to get the document.
“My daughter waited for six months to get the passport booklet. I was a House committee on NDDC chairman, I faced this; tell me what an average Nigerian will face. It’s like we are waiting for a passport to heaven,” he said.
. TheWitness
