Rehabilitation centres belonging to state governments across the country are left in ruins as their structures and facilities are in decrepit conditions, investigation by Daily Trust has shown.
Searchlights were beamed on state rehabilitation centres following last year’s raids on private reformation or “torture” centres by government officials and security agents in some states that exposed the level of dehumanising treatment being meted on inmates.
Nigerians were shocked to the marrow when fake correctional centres were uncovered in parts of the country, revealing their hideous nightmares.
Parents and guardians of the tortured children interviewed last year said they were left with no option than to take their wards to the “traditional experts to redeem their deviant children or those with mental challenges.”
Some of the parents said they were not even aware that government rehabilitation facilities exist.
In Kaduna for instance, two centres were discovered in Rigasa in Igabi Local Government Area and have been closed by the government while the “teachers or instructors” were arrested.
The first centre was discovered on September 26, 2019, where over 300 people were rescued, while in the second centre popularly known as Malam Niga Rehabilitation and Skills Acquisition Centre, over 147 people were rescued.
The teachers or instructors in some of the raided centres claimed that they were managing Tsangaya (Islamic schools) and described the inmates as almajirai.
Some of those in custody were seen in chains with injuries all over their bodies.
But experts say rather than being reformed, most of the children or the grownups taken to unprofessional centres ended up becoming increasingly deviant or hardened criminals.
“When I took my son who was 13 years old to the local Malam for rehabilitation, he was brought back worse than when I took him,” a father who gave his name as Sharuhu Adamu, said.
“I took him to Kaduna from Kano because he was truant when he was with us.
“But I regret my action because he didn’t learn anything.
He was chained for many months and when he was brought back home, he started looking at us with disdain as if we are not his parents.
“Sometimes he sleeps outside and his mother had once approached me saying she suspects he is smoking; he is just 15 years now,” Sharuhu said.
Similar centres like the one in Kaduna were later discovered in Kano, Adamawa, Bauchi and Katsina states; just as 360 inmates were rescued in Daura.
In nearly all of them, inmates had been detained for years and subjected to torture, sexual abuse, and sheer dehumanisation.
Apparently disturbed by the development, President Muhammadu Buhari gave a directive on October 19, 2019, to security agencies to fish out such centres, rescue the suspects and rehabilitate them.
Why substandard centres exist
Daily Trust findings show that the inability of various state governments to establish to properly manage the designated rehabilitation centres and equip them with requisite facilities and experts led to the proliferation of private facilities.
In Edo State for instance, the child correctional centre, run by the state government, is begging for attention.
Our reporter who also visited the remand home located along Welfare road, off Upper Sakpoba Road, in Benin City, observed that although the remand home is fenced, it lacked other basic facilities such as skill acquisition, recreation and education centres necessary for reform.
Speaking with Daily Trust, Jenifer Ero who is the National Coordinator for Child Protection Network, said the centre does not have proper facilities for correction of children who have a conflict with the law.
When contacted, the head of the centre declined comments and asked our reporter to get clearance from the supervisory ministry before granting the audience.
Erosion threatens Enugu centre
The Enugu State vocational rehabilitation centre in Emene, located beside the Federal School of Social Work is not in good conditions as it is not only affected by neglect and age but also environmental issues such as erosion and flooding.
Our correspondent who visited the place reports that the buildings were dilapidated while some windows had given way.
The only rural un-tarred road leading to the place is in deplorable condition making it difficult for people to attempt visiting the centre during the rainy season.
It was, however, observed that some buildings were undergoing renovation courtesy with an official at the centre alleging that previous governments came and left without changing the condition of this place.
The head of the centre, Mr. Anthony Agu was not around when the Daily Trust correspondent visited and when contacted on the telephone he declined to comment.
“We are operating under the ministry of gender affairs.
“Other journalists have come here but I usually refer them to the ministry where they could get permission from the permanent secretary who will authorise any discussion or comment,” Agu said.
Situation same in Benue
In Benue, the state rehabilitation centre located at Apir, on the outskirts of Makurdi, was established in 2002 and currently houses over 60 children with special needs.
But facilities which serve as hostels for inmates, classrooms, vocational training rooms and administrative offices were in deplorable condition.
Daily Trust reports that the institution was an eyesore as the facilities including the girls’ hostel and the administrative offices emit bad smell.
Even though the collapsed fence of the school had been fixed, a source said there was need for more to be done to give the facility the desired facelift.
But the Executive Secretary of the Benue State Rehabilitation Board, Mrs Hembadoon Gum told our correspondent that the facility was no longer what it used to be about four years ago as there were improvements.
Lack of centres aids drug addiction in Kaduna
In Kaduna, it was gathered that the near absence of state-owned rehabilitation centres have contributed to the springing up of fake facilities with an alarming rate of drug users in the state.
Our correspondent gathered that the remand home in the state is being used as a rehabilitation centre for women and children.
During a visit to the government-owned remand home in Kaduna, our reporter observed that the gate was kept under lock and key as only authorised people were allowed access.
However, the Commissioner of Social Development and Human Services, Hajiya Hafsat Baba, said plans were underway to establish rehabilitation centres in the state.
“Rehabilitated persons are repatriated back to their various states because Kaduna does not have the facility to cater for them yet,” she said.
She said the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) will renovate a centre in Barnawa, adding that the School of Home Economics located on Katuru road had been allocated to serve as a rehabilitation centre under the ministry.
“It will be called, women and girls centre because we do not want to call it a rehabilitation centre because of the stigma,” she said.
She said the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) had also shown interest in renovating the Katuru road centre to make it habitable for inmates.
Inmates abandoned by parents in Taraba
In Taraba State, inmates at the Jalingo remand home complained that their parents have abandoned them.
The remand home located near the Comprehensive Secondary school, Jalingo, serves as a correction centre for delinquent children.
It was established many years ago and children within the ages of ten and 17 are being taken for corrective measures and rehabilitation.
A visit to the home by Daily Trust showed that the building housing the inmates was in good shape with a television hung on the wall and a refrigerator by the side.
The centre had 15 inmates during a visit by our reporter but only 5 were met while 11 others were said to have been taken to court.
Katsina donates centre for NDLEA
In Katsina, there are three state government-owned reformatory and rehabilitation centres.
The ones in Katsina and Daura are made for males while that in Funtua is meant for females.
It was gathered that the Katsina State government had built and handed over another centre to the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) to rehabilitate drug addicts.
However, while the centres in Katsina and Daura are functioning, the one in Funtua is yet to start operation.
The two centres for males boast of state of the art facilities especially the one in Daura,which came on board this year and has the capacity to accommodate at least 120 people.
It has a 20 capacity bed hospital, five hostels, dormitories, classes and vocational skill workshops.
It was gathered that although the capacity is for 120 inmates, it can only take 70 inmates due to shortage of staff.
A social worker at the facility, Lawal Mamman, said the centre was designed to reform children for the better.
An inmate who spent six months in the facility, Shamsu Idris, said some of them preferred to remain in the facility than to go back home.
‘Parents, governments not fair to those with special needs’
Samuel Jinadu, a clinical psychologist said rehabilitation or behavioural treatment centres in the country are not good for habitation.
He said the patients taken there see their admission as punishment.
Jinadu said most of the government centres were grossly underfunded, a fall out of the low budgetary allocation to mental health and the health sector generally in the country.
He said the rot was partly responsible for some families taking their relatives to make-shift or wrong places in the name of rehabilitation.
Who should be taken to rehabilitation centres?
Asked to comment on the category of persons that should be admitted at rehabilitation centres, Jinadu said it is not all those diagnosed with a mental health condition that should be in such facilities.
He said only mental health professionals could recommend who should be treated at such centres.
According to him, there were some people suffering from mental illnesses who could simply be treated at home, saying such people don’t need to be in a psychiatric facility.
He said for those that mental illness affected their ability to carry out their day to day activity and also constituted distress to the family system, they should be taken to rehabilitation centres based on the recommendation of experts.
On families who take stubborn children to mental health facilities, he said, “You see, when families bring their wards to the hospitals, most times they bring them with the intention to punish them for wrong doing.
“Treatment is not punishment and if you keep selling the idea that treatment is punishment, even the person you are trying to bring will develop rebellious character; the person could develop resistant to whatever intervention you are trying to provide,” he said.
He said a rehabilitation or behavioural treatment facility must have a team of professionals including psychiatric doctors, consultant psychiatrist and nurses, clinical psychologists, social workers, occupational therapists and medical doctors among others.
