The Federal Government said it will initiate processes to relocate Ikoyi prison and some correctional centres from urban centres in the country. Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, stated this on Channels Television’s Politics Today programme on Thursday.
The minister said urbanisation has eaten into the setbacks that ought to be around correctional centres in the country. Tunji-Ojo said, “Under this administration, we’ve not had any jail attack; what we’ve had was force majeure, which was Suleja because that particular correctional centre was built in 1914. It’s about 110 years old.
“I must talk about urbanisation. Look at Suleja for example, the correctional centre that came down was only 7 metres away from the next house. Instead of what the law says which is a buffer space of 100 metres. So, urbanisation has eaten deep.
“Look at Ikoyi Correctional Centre sharing a fence with another house. What’s a correctional centre doing in Ikoyi? This administration is looking at being able to initiate the process of possibly relocating some of these correctional centres.”
He said the government would soon commence “inmate audit” across the 256 correctional centres in the country and sanitise them by freeing those who don’t have any business being there in the first instance. He also said that over 97,000 passports were yet to be collected, adding that the ministry was now reaching out to Nigerians to collect the passports.
