The House of Representatives on Wednesday mandated its Committee on Interior to interface with Federal Ministry of Interior and Nigeria Prisons Service over facilities in prisons across the country.
The purpose, according to the green chamber, is to evolve ways to curb the spate of prison riots and breaks.
The lawmakers also urged the Legal Aid Council and National Human Rights Commission to put modalities in place to assist people awaiting trial in various prisons who have no means of getting legal representation.
The resolutions followed a motion by Rep. Emeka Anohu (Anambra-PDP) and two other members.
Moving the motion, Anohu said: “There is a prison facility in almost every state of the federation and they are congested by inmates, majority of who are on `awaiting trial’ list.
“Those on the list have been for a long time which, in some cases, may have exceeded the duration of their actual imprisonment, had they been convicted.
“Owing to poor facilities and lack of logistics, the prison authorities often fail to convey inmates to courts for trials which add to delay in disposal of their cases.
“They have to remain in prison facilities that lack basic correctional officers and tools that would enable inmates prepare for their re-integration into the society upon their release.’’
He said that there were also those who lacked appropriate legal representation because they could not afford lawyers and the fact that some of them had been granted options of fines but remained in prisons.
According to him, most of the prisons lack basic amenities like potable water and proper waste disposal system, a situation that exposes them to contacting various ailments.
The lawmaker expressed concern about the dilapidated prison infrastructure across the country, saying that some of them were built over a century ago.
“This is leading to incessant riots and prison breaks which pose security concerns and serious threats not only to prison officials but also to the general citizenry, not to talk of the embarrassment to the nation.”
Rep. Prestige Ossy (APGA-Abia), while contributing, said there were 39,000 awaiting trial inmates out of 56,000 inmates in the country.
He described the prisons as breeding grounds for criminals.
“Visit any prison and you will see man’s inhumanity to man.
“There are no fans, mattresses, the floor is not plastered; there is no access to lawyers, no vehicles to go to court. We cannot allow this to continue.
“There is big men prison and another for the common man. The one for the big men is well kept, but the other is terrible.
“It is a breeding haven for criminals.’’
Supporting the motion, Chairman of Committee on Foreign Affairs, Nnena Elendu-Ukeje (PDP-Abia), said that the matter needed President Muhammadu Buhari’s attention.
“We cannot overstate the degradation of our prison system. It speaks to the Executive to sign the Prisons Reform Bill. There is the need to actually act on it.”
When the Deputy Speaker, Mr Yussuff Lasun, who presided at the plenary, called for a voice vote on the matter, it was unanimously adopted by members.
The committee was given six weeks to report back to the House for further legislative action. (NAN)
