‘Fish out officers facilitating jailbreaks’, Aregbesola tells new NCoS boss

The Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola, has charged the newly appointed Controller General of the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS), Haliru Nababa, to fish out personnel of the service who are helping inmates in criminal activities.

He gave the charge during the decoration of Nababa as the Controller General of NCoS in Abuja on Monday.

While harping on the need to bolster discipline and professional integrity among the rank and file, Aregbesola said there should be no place for unprofessional personnel in the Service.

“There are a few bad eggs that smuggle prohibited items to inmates, assist them in running criminal operations while in custody, take them out to unapproved places and locations and wittingly or unwittingly facilitate jailbreak for them.

“They should be fished out. Their nefarious activities endanger the nation, other staff and inmates. There should be no place for them. There should be zero tolerance for them in the service,” he said.

Aregbesola also warned that there would be an influx of inmates into the custodial centres across Nigeria following the insecurity currently bedevilling the country.

The Minister who pointed out that Nababa was taking over at a time when the country is battling with insecurity on all fronts, charged him to be ready for the challenges ahead.

“The implication of this is that the custodial facilities will be bursting at the seams with the influx of inmates awaiting trials or convicts serving terms and awaiting execution.

“This poses a special challenge in that some of the inmates belong to organisations that will deem themselves to be fighting ethnoreligious and political causes. Therefore, their members outside will be planning to break into the facilities to free their members.

“There are also sophisticated criminal organisations whose members are either serving terms or awaiting trials and are now using the security situation in the country as an opportunity to attack our custodial centres and obtain their freedom,” Aregbesola said.

While noting that custodial centres had been under consistent attacks in a brazen challenge to the authority of the Nigerian state, he warned that when inmates break free from custody, the security of lives and property is in jeopardy.

He said the choice of Nababa came from a “rigorous meritocratic selection” after 31 years in Service, describing him as a gallant and patriotic officer.