The comptroller general, Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS), Haliru Nababa, has appealed to all stakeholders and the general public to accept and welcome ex-offenders into society.

“I appeal to all stakeholders, and indeed the public, to open their arms to ex-offenders who have experienced total behavioural change as a result of the reformatory tools they subjected themselves to while in custody,” said Mr Nababa in commemoration of the International Prisoners Justice Day on Thursday in Abuja.

Prisoners’ Justice Day is a solidarity movement that takes place annually on August 10, and the theme this year is “Enhancing Global Response for Prisoners’ Justice.”

The movement began in Canada in 1974 in support of prisoners’ rights and to remember all the people who have died of unnatural deaths while incarcerated.

Mr Nababa was represented by the Deputy Controller General, Finance and Account Department, Abdullahi Magaji.

The NCoS boss said stigmatisation of ex-offenders was indeed a challenge to modern corrections, as it was counterproductive and had a way of pushing them back to the method of crime.

He said the inmates had gone through various reformatory and rehabilitation programmes while in custody, thereby changing their orientation and making them better citizens.

Mr Nababa emphasised that the service, beyond keeping offenders out of circulation, provided a variety of treatment regimes for them based on their risks and needs assessment.

He said this includes educational advancement opportunities for those with the capacity, sundry vocational skills acquisition, modern agricultural and farming techniques, psychological treatments, guidance and counseling, sports and recreation, and religious activities.

(NAN)