Aregbesola said that every naira spent on administration of criminal justice would amount to a waste if the Correctional Service could not keep its end of the bargain.
By Jeffrey Agbo
The Federal Government has again directed officials of the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS) to shoot invaders in the wake of attacks on its facilities nationwide.
Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola, stated this on Monday in Abuja while unveiling the Correctional Service’s new logo and uniforms.
Aregbesola also inaugurated a new staff quarters, ICT infrastructure and operational vehicles at the Correctional Service’s headquarters.
Aregbesola lamented that the goal of the administration of criminal justice would have been defeated and money spent on arrests, investigations, trials and prosecution wasted if inmates were allowed to escape.
He said, “Government said those who attack custodial centres must never live to tell their stories.”
The minister warned against posting of lily-livered personnel to Correctional Service facilities, saying only sharp shooters who are trained to aim at the heads of criminals should be deployed to such centres.
He said, “As far as I am concerned, whoever attempts to attack our facilities, whoever dares, should not live to tell the story. That is how best I can say it.
“Whoever attacks our custodial facility should be made to return to his maker.
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“I have said it before and I will say it again that all our facilities are red zones. Rifles are for criminals, not for hunting antelopes. You don’t need any order.
“Don’t wait for any order. Anybody that comes to attack our custodial facilities which are the end or finishing line of administration of criminal justice, take them out.
“Our facilities should be inviolable and any intruder must be made to pay a huge price. Inmates now know that they cannot escape by themselves. They gave criminals outside who want to help them to escape.”
Aregbesola added that out of the over 70,000 inmates in the Correctional Service facilities nationwide less than 3,000 do not constitute any threat. “So, those who are afraid to shoot, if you don’t want to dismiss them, let them be in the female prisons.
“But those who are going to be in the maximum and minimum custodial centres, they must be very tough people. It is a serious matter. We have had enough of the embarrassment,” he said.
Aregbesola said that every naira spent on administration of criminal justice would amount to a waste if the Correctional Service could not keep its end of the bargain.
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