The Oyo State Command of the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS) has said most of the inmates are in custodial centres for drug-related offences. 

Officer in-Charge, Medium Security Custodial Centre, Agodi, Ibadan, David Akadiri, stated this during the 3rd Edition of the Inmates Debate Competition, organised by the centre in Ibadan on Wednesday.

The debate is with the theme: “Drug Abuse is a Major Contributor to Criminal Behaviour.”

The debate had Team A and Team B speaking for and against the topic, respectively.

Mr Akadiri described drug abuse as a bad phenomenon capable of taking addicts to undesirable places in life, thus the centre’s efforts to advise and encourage inmates to stay away from drugs.

He reaffirmed that custodial centres exist to make inmates better citizens by correcting and changing their mentality.

According to him, the government has created an enabling environment for NCoS to achieve its mandate to reform, correct, and rehabilitate inmates.

“The government has created an enabling environment by establishing a school within the facility; workshops have been created here, and instead of them sitting idle, they can engage themselves in productive activities.

“By the time they leave this place, they will be very useful to themselves, their families, and society at large,” he said.

Mr Akadiri said the centre was optimistic that the inmates would be good ambassadors for society by the time they are reintegrated.

A representative of Taming Wonder, one of the debate initiative’s partners, Aderibigbe Iyanu, said the debate aimed to remind the public that inmates still possess abilities, ideas, and potential.

Mr Iyanu added that the debate also offered inmates an opportunity to learn, think, speak and engage with important issues affecting society.

He commended the inmates for participating in the debate and appreciated the Medium Security Custodial Centre, Agodi, for providing the debate’s platform.

An Assistant Commander of Narcotics (ACN), Godwin Mercy, NDLEA, Oyo State Command, urged Nigerians to shun drug abuse and misuse to reduce crime to the barest minimum.

Team B won with 84 points, while Team A scored 80 points. 

(NAN)