The Nigeria Correctional Service (NCoS) trained and rehabilitated no fewer than 3,030 inmates in various skills across the 256 custodial centres in Nigeria between July and December 2024.

The Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, disclosed this on Tuesday in Abuja during a media parley and interactive session with heads of the six agencies under the ministry.

Mr Tunji-Ojo said the inmates acquired skills in carpentry, tailoring, poultry, hairdressing, and fishery, among others.

He also said 50 other inmates’ were pursuing various academic programmes at the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN).

“Correctional centres are now places of hope and transformation. This is to make sure that when people go in there, it does not mean it is the end of their lives; they can learn.

“People can go in there and go to schools, get certificates or get hands-on skills.

“So that when they leave the correctional centres, they can be useful to themselves and will not see crime as the only option for survival,” the minister said.

The minister said the e-library in Kuje Custodial Centre has been functional for the inmates to patronise and equip themselves with knowledge.

Mr Tunji-Ojo said over 5,000 offenders served different non-custodial sentences between January and December 2024.

“You see, the difference between the Nigerian Prison Service (NPS) and the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS) is that prison is just a place of incarceration, while the correctional centre is a place for correction, a place for transformation, and a place of hope,” he said.

Mr Tunji-Ojo also announced that the federal government approved a 50 per cent increment in the daily feeding allocation for inmates.

“This demonstrates President Bola Tinubu’s commitment to improving the welfare of inmates and ensuring value for the allocated funds,” he stated.

The minister revealed that NCoS had trained 4,996 officers between July and December 2024, with 2,053 currently undergoing training.

Mr Tunji-Ojo also emphasised the integration of biometric data for inmates through a collaboration between the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS) and the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC).

“No inmate will be left unregistered. This linkage is critical for tracking and monitoring,” he explained.

(NAN)