Help pay prisoners’ fines, NHRC urges philanthropists

By AbdulRaheem Aodu,
Kaduna

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has lamented the high rate of congestion of Nigerian prisons and police detention centres while calling on wealthy Nigerians, corporate organisations and the public to help decongest the prisons by assisting convicted inmates who were given option of fine, in paying their fine.

Kaduna state Coordinator of the Commission, Mr Christopher Oshishi Eneji made the call in Kaduna at the weekend after conducting an audit of the Kaduna Convict Prisons, where he discovered that the prison was almost 200 percent congested. He urged philanthropists and the general public to support government in decongesting the prisons to help protect the human rights of the inmates.
Mr Eneji also urged the the Nigerian Police Force to take significant measures in decongesting their cells and detention centres to make them more human friendly and to comply with domestic and international standards for respect of human rights.

According to a press release signed by the Public Affairs Officer of National Human Rights Commission, Kaduna state, Malam Abdulganiyi Abdullahi Bala, and made available to Blueprint, “the general public are being urged to compliment government’s effort in decongesting the nation’s prisons by assisting inmates with prison of fine.
“When Kaduna state Coordinator of the Commission, Mr Christopher Oshishi Eneji led a team to conduct audit of the Kaduna Convicts Prison, he discovered that the prison which has capacity for 547 inmates now has over 1, 000 inmates.
“Mr Eneji said that the audit exercise, which is ongoing, is centred on the need to ensure compliance with domestic and international standards for respect of human rights in institutions of state where detainees are vulnerable to possibilities of abuse of their him an rights.”

The statement however commended the management of the Kaduna Convicts Prison for the high sanitary standard observed in the facility, and the educational provision made available to inmates which extends even up to university level within the prison.