Governor Abdullahi Sule on Wednesday decried the large number of inmates awaiting trial at the Keffi Medium Security Correctional Centre.

He noted this during a visit to the facility in Keffi LGA, a day after 16 inmates reportedly escaped from the facility.

The governor was taken around the facility by officials of the Nigeria Correctional Service.

The NCoS had confirmed the incident on Tuesday and stated that, so far, seven out of the 16 inmates had been recaptured, while a manhunt was underway to recapture the remaining nine inmates.

Mr Sule, who visited the correctional facility with top government functionaries to inspect the aftermath of the jailbreak, interacted with NCoS officers and inmates.

During his interaction with journalists shortly after an inspection tour of the facility, Mr Sule noted that the facility was congested. He noted that most of the inmates awaiting trial in the facility are those whose cases were before the courts in Abuja, which is why there is congestion.

The governor promised that his government would explore ways to expedite the trials of accused persons to reduce congestion in the facility. He charged the inmates to be of good behavior and law-abiding.

The governor, who noted that many of the inmates were sitting on bare floors, stated that he had directed the state government to supply 500 mattresses to the centre to improve the inmates’ living conditions.

Mr Sule announced a donation of N1 million for the inmates’ upkeep and reiterated that he was on a fact-finding mission aimed at understanding the reasons behind the early morning incident on Tuesday.

“One of the reasons why I decided to come was not just to find out about the jailbreak but to find out why it happened. From what we see, there are jailbreaks across the country. But for us to experience that, I wanted to know why it happened. Was it because of the inmates’ welfare or the type of building they are being kept?

“I came to realise, firstly, that the majority of the inmates here are those awaiting trial at the courts in the FCT. They are not awaiting trial here in our courts in Nasarawa State,” he said.

Mr Sule expressed the state government’s desire to partner with relevant authorities in Abuja to expedite the trials of inmates awaiting trial currently housed at the Keffi Medium Correctional Centre, in an effort to decongest the centre.

The governor told journalists that it was his responsibility to approach FCT officials to determine the best way to decongest the Keffi correctional centre.

“Through our chief judge, we will get across to the chief judge in the FCT. I understand that the attorney general of the federation would also need to be approached in order to see how we can resolve this,” he said.

Mr Sule pointed out that, although there was every need to improve the facility’s security, addressing the immediate discontent among the inmates would reduce the frequency of jailbreaks in the country.

“We must continue to work on improved security, but I don’t think that it is the absence of security that caused what happened here. It is some of these grudges and complaints that may have caused what happened,” he said.

He commended the officers and men of the service, as well as other security agencies, for the re-arrest of some of the escapees and charged citizens in the state to remain vigilant and report any suspicious persons to the security agencies.

(NAN)