Prisoners’ Rehabilitation and Welfare Action has trained members of the Lagos parole board on strengthening parole administration for effective justice delivery.

The two-day training with support funding from the Rule of Law and Anti-Corruption is under PRAWA’s Advancing Implementation of Non-Custodial Solutions project.

The National Parole Board, part of the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS), was established on August 25, 2022.

Its mandates include overseeing parole eligibility, setting release conditions, and revoking parole if necessary.

The board is an important part of the Nigerian criminal justice system, which aims to improve compliance with laws, reduce prison overcrowding, and lower administrative costs.

In opening remarks at the event, Uju Agomoh, PRAWA president and parole board member, said the training was to continue the series of physical training for parole board members, under the advancing non custodian solutions project.

Ms Agomoh said the training aimed to sensitise the parole board members on the contents of the protocol and guidelines for parole administration in Nigeria.

She explained that it was not just about looking at the content, but understanding how to implement the guidelines and the challenging issues.

“So what we are looking at is the different ways of measuring good behaviour. Let me stress that it is not talking about the good behaviour outside, but the person’s behaviour when in custody.

“The other thing for parole board is to see that there is also potential that this person, when they are released, will also continue to be of good behaviour in the community,” stated Ms Agomoh.

She added, “We looked at the benefits of parole and then underscored the different element in terms of assessing the suitability and, of course, ensuring that the eligibility criterion that has been put in the guidelines is met.”

In the same vein, Justice Babajide Candide-Johnson, retired judge of the Lagos High Court and inaugural chairman of the state parole board disclosed that all chairmen of the board were retired judges.

Mr Candide-Johnson said the inauguration of the board resulted from the 2019 legislation of the National Assembly converting the previous system into a correctional service system.

Similarly, Babajide Martins, the director of public prosecution in Lagos and a member of the board, said it was imperative to have an overview of the legal framework, which would give them the power to do what the parole board was set up to do.

He added that the training would also provide capacity building for all the members to ensure a successful parole system in the state in particular, and the nation at large.

He also mentioned that the advantage of the parole system was to ensure that people who have been of good behavior and conducted themselves well while in correctional services were left off to go early.

He said this was to give them the opportunity to be rehabilitated and reintegrated into society.

(NAN)