By Nelson Utip
Governor Siminalayi Fubara of Rivers State has called on Nigerians to support President Tinubu for the nation to move forward, he warned that if Nigeria fails all the components will fail, the governor gave the advice when he played host to The House of Representatives Committee on Reformatory Institutions led by the Chairman Hon. Chinedu Ogah in The Government House in Port Harcourt recently.#
The governor called for timely investigation of suspected criminals through effective legal procedures to ensure that they did not eventually get dumped in the correctional centres unduly on the awaiting trial list, governor Fubara stated that The Police and the judiciary should rise to the demands of their Institutions to achieve this end of decongesting correctional centers and reducing the financial burden on government.
In a statement issued by the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Nelson Chukwudi, and made available to newsmen, The Governor said: “I know that the State Government, from time to time, I mean, through the Chief Judge, had visited the Correctional Centres, and after evaluation, and I have seen a few letters he has written about what he saw on his visit, and having confirmed, and accessed a few of the inmates, he had granted them either bail or pardon. “But this issue goes back to one major thing: institutions that we call the Police Force and the Judiciary.
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Most of these issues that we are talking about; overcrowding of the Correctional Centres, might be due to delay in the trial of their cases. That is the truth.
“The other aspect is that you arrest somebody wrongfully or whatever, and the process of investigation takes two, three, four years. So, we need to make sure that our institutions are functioning effectively. If they are functioning effectively, I strongly believe that most of these issues of over-crowding of the Correctional Centres won’t be there.”
“But, this is where we are, and we will continue to encourage our system to do it better. Maybe, if we had made these complaints earlier, some of the corrections would have been done.
“So, now that we are saying it, I believe they are hearing, and they will expedite action to make sure that some of these things are put to check.” Governor Fubara used the opportunity to restate his administration’s focus on the needs of Rivers people, adding that while addressing those needs, it is also mindful of the importance of properly integrating ex-convicts into the society.
He advised, “We also need to ensure that proper evaluations are done to ensure that we are not endangering our people. “It is not just to say we need to reintegrate them. We also need to do the proper thing to make sure that when they leave the centres, they can fit into society.
“I think even in the Correctional Centres, they have vocational activities there. Some of them have the opportunity of running academic programmes online. “So, first of all, they should also show this commitment that they want to change, that they want to be part of the system, coming back to the society, and we as a government, will do all we can make it possible.” Fubara was delighted that issues of the correctional centres has attracted the attention of the National Assembly, which goes to prove that the government is proactive and living up to it’s responsibilities. He thanked Members of the Committee for the visit.
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“It goes to say just one thing: we know what the problem is, and we are tackling the problem from the root cause.
“What is the problem associated with crime: unemployment, insecurity. This insecurity is economic insecurity and that is what causes crime. “It is a global issue, though but as a State, we will continue to do our best to see to it that our youths are engaged meaningfully, and are discouraged from associating with anything that will bring a bad image to our State.”The governor said.
Governor Fubara however noted that most of the correctional centres were built over 80 years ago and have been overwhelmed by the astronomical increase in inmates. “I will mandate the Secretary to the State Government to go and access what is going on there, and liaise with the appropriate authorities and see where we can come in to complete it so that this issue of having these Correctional Centres in the centre of the city which is not a good idea, at least, we can solve that problem once and for all.” He called on the committee to live up to it’s bidding by making relevant laws to correct the mistakes observed.
“It shouldn’t be something we just put in our Constitution. It should be given all the strength of implementation or execution of those laws. So, you should help us do it right, and we will take it from there on the part of execution which is the duty of the Executive.”
“Let me thank you, more especially for coming to see us. Let me on behalf of the Government and the good people of Rivers State, assure you that you have not made any mistake. “You have done the right thing, and you have taken the right step. I believe that by the end of your visit, you are going to come up with recommendations that are going to help us solve some of these problems. “But in all, we all have to put hands together to support this administration of our President. Nigeria is a very big and complex society; with different ideologies, multi-cultural beliefs, and social differences, but we are all here as one because of the flag of Nigeria.
“So, what we need to do is to ensure that we work as one, on one common interest to make sure that we sustain this entity called Nigeria. If Nigeria succeeds, we all succeed. And Nigeria will only succeed when we support the President.
“If Nigeria fails, everybody fails. The sub-nationals, like Rivers State, and any other state will also fail. You can’t succeed just as a state. Your success must be extended to the centre.” The governor explained.
The Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Reformatory Institutions and leader of f the team, Hon. Chinedu Ogah, explained that they are in Rivers State to oversight all the Correctional Institutions domiciled in the State, he observed the glaring neglect the Correctional Service has suffered in the country, especially in the area of security.
Oga mentioned four Correctional Service centres in Rivers State which includes Port Harcourt, Ahoada, Degema and the Farm Settlement; with each housing about 4,000 inmates, adding that 91 per cent of such inmates are awaiting trial. “And most of these people are not yet convicted, and some of them are not being justified: what the case is all about.
The major issue, the negligence aspect of the security, is that they don’t care how to reintegrate, reform, and bring them back into society so they cannot indulge in crime. “If we look into it, we find out that, that is the only way we can ensure the security of lives and property in this country, by making sure that those we feel have already committed crimes are reformed and reintegrated into the society by giving them skills and opportunity so that they can have something to feed, and not go back to crime.
“And Your Excellency, from our records, we found out that since you assumed office, there has been a reduction in crime rate in Rivers State because of what you have done by empowering the youths in all the local governments economically, in all the wards by giving them a sense of belonging too. We have to commend you for that.”
“Rivers State is one of the places where the construction of 3,000-capacity centres is ongoing in Bori, and this construction has gotten up to 60 per cent.
“But Your Excellency, you know the truth: Federal Government cannot do it alone, and as a Governor who knows the problems of the people, that is our essence of coming to you to partner with the Committee on Reformatory Institutions to know what we can do together to relocate that correctional service centre.” Hon Oga said.
