Popular activist and Convener of Concerned Nigerians, Deji Adeyanju has again bashed the nation’s prison system for hardening criminals instead of reforming their character.
He made this known in an interview published by Guardian.
Recall that Adeyanju was remanded in Kano prison for a total of 78 days over a murder charge which many people believed is trumped up.
Speaking about his experience at the prison, the activist said, “One of the things I learnt is that half of Nigeria’s problems is reflected in the prison.
“Kano prison has about 3,000 inmates and most of them are young people; you cannot see any old man there. And the issues that took them to prison are societal issues, issues about the poor economy, and unemployment and things like that.
“Majority of the young people in that prison also suffers from drug abuse and the most pathetic thing in Kano prison is that no reform is taking place there.
“The people I sympathise most with are the first-time offenders; they go there and become more hardened. The prison is a breeding ground for criminals.
“So, I believe that we should begin to look beyond being punitive for people who commit crime but how to reform their minds.
“Because if the essence of sending people to prison is for punitive and corrective measures, then we fail if we achieve punishment alone and refuse to reform them.
“What I will personally look into is how to engage in prison reform and transformation of the inmates. That is one of the issues my NGO wants to focus on.
“I genuinely believe that the future of our country lies in the way we treat our citizens, and there should be no citizen, convicted or free, who should be treated less than a human being.”
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