Published on: April 3, 2025
Content:
The jailbreak reported on Monday, March 24, 2025 at the Koton Karfe Medium Security Custodial Centre, Kogi State, has brought the issue of security at our various correctional centres to the front burner again.
The 253 custodial centres of the Nigerian Correctional Service, NCS, have experienced many jailbreaks over the years, but the Koton Karfe Medium Security Custodial Centre has recorded six of such since 2012. In one of such incidents at Koton Karfe in 2016 masterminded by the inmates, 13 of them escaped and till date have not been rearrested. A correctional officer of the NCS was killed during the Monday jail break with 12 inmates escaping after tampering with the padlocks in a section of the facility.
The frequency of these jailbreaks gives room for concern about public safety and the security of correctional facilities across the country. Security experts and analysts have blamed the recurring prison breaks on infrastructural deficit, overcrowding of cells, prolonged trial of suspects, and poor remuneration of prison staff, among other issues.
Statistics from the NCS show that as at March 25, 2025, there are 79,669 inmates in our prisons with 26,898 convicted, while 52,771 are awaiting trial inmates. This shows that out of the 79,669 inmates 34 per cent are convicted and 66 per cent awaiting trial. The Koto Karfe Medium Security Custodial Centre, built in 1934 and re-commissioned by the Federal Government in 2015 with a capacity for 320 inmates, is not exempted from the problem of overcrowding.
Undue delays in the nation’s criminal justice system resulting in a huge number of awaiting trial inmates contribute to these incessant prison breaks. As the number of inmates increase, the limited holding spaces are unable to cope. Clearly, the problem of prison congestion and jailbreaks are intertwined.
We call on the Federal Government to increase investment in prison security infrastructure, including surveillance cameras, alarm systems, and recruitment of additional security personnel. The recently commissioned five Bullet Resistant Guard-Booth vehicles at the National Headquarters, Abuja; Medium Security Custodial Centre, Kuje; Maximum Security Custodial Centres, Port Harcourt, Kano and Lagos should be extended to other vulnerable custodial centres like Koton Karfe.
The Guard-Booths, meant to secure the Custodial Centres against external attacks, are equipped with long range surveillance capabilities to protect against high level threats. They aid early threat detection and facilitate effective combat responses.
We welcome the order of the NCS management for a comprehensive audit to plug the constant breaches of the facility at Koton Karfe. The public should be informed about the audit’s outcome, and anyone found complicit should be dealt with. This will help in strengthening transparency in the system.
We also urge the state governments and capable individuals to help in upgrading our prisons to foster security of the larger community.
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