By; SAMSON YAKI, Kaduna.
The Comptroller General of Nigerian Prisons Service, Alhaji Ja’afaru Ahmed has reiterate commitment to ensure zero tolerance to indiscipline through establishment of prisons legal unit to fastrack pending disciplinary cases and timely disposal through provision of adequate resources.
He stated this at the grand reception reunion programme with his mates; Course 20, psck 1990, in honour of his appointment as the Comptroller General of the Nigeria Prisons Service at Prisons Staff College, Kaduna.
The Comptroller General said his topmost priority was to restore discipline in the service, to sanitise the system in line with the commitment of the current administration.
In the area of staff welfare the Controller pointed out that due attention would be given to regular promotion and upgrading of staff to motivate them while in-service alongside provision of accommodation and renovation of the available ones to make them habitable.
His words, “… private developers would be engaged to provide housing scheme to staff through partnership with the service. My administration will run a prison system that would provide humane and custodial service through enhance human capacity building and general welfare of staff”.
Alhaji Ahmed Ja’afaru maintained that for effective execution of mandate in the service, there was a need for training and retraining of staff to enable them contain with present and future challenges in line with global practices.
“The service will organize more in-house seminars and workshops to improve staff skills, adequate provision will henceforth be made to cater for staff attending courses in training schools and colleges, proper grading of Prisons Staff College, Kaduna to award diploma certificate on correctional studies will be carried out alongside affiliation of Prisons Academy Ijebu Igbo with a university for the award of degree certificate”.
He expressed optimism that his tenure will address infrastructural decay in the service adding that attention will be given to agriculture to enable the service take advantage of the over sixteen thousand hectres of land at their disposal, “two billion naira has been expended for that purpose and four billion for the purchase of vehicles in the 2016 budget.”
The Comptroller General said the issue of prisons escape is part and parcel of the service but will be viewed seriously and any staff under whose custody a prisoner escapes may not only lose his job but face prosecution if found culpable.
