The Minister of interior, Rauf Aregbesola on Friday said government must think ‘out of the box’ to be able to improve welfare of prison inmates in the country.
The Minister, who spoke during the 2020 budget defence before the joint senate and house of representatives committee on Interior, decried congestion and welfare challenges in various correctional facilities across the country.
He noted with concern that limited resources allotted to the sector would not be enough to surmount its numerous challenges.
“We will be creative and innovative in our approach this time around, so that we can turn our correctional facilities to enterprise centres.
“By that, a lot could be achieved by turning the place around, saving the government some burden and make life better for all citizens either outside or inside the prison,” he said.
To decongest prisons across the country, the minister said they have engaged governors and reached out to Ministry of Justice, where a committee was form to address the issue.
“We are also planning a meeting with the Nigerian Governors Forum in order to sensitize them on what they should do to make sure aspect of criminal justice administration is not neglected. There will be serious problems if all of us failed to come together to solve it,” he added
