The Federal Government has explained why it is currently building more prisons across the country.
The Minister of Interior, Abdulrahman Dambazau while speaking at the commissioning of some projects and newly acquired vehicles at the Nigeria Prisons Service (NPS) headquarters in Abuja, said most of the existing prisons in the country were over 100 years old and needed to be replaced.
“We are building prisons but we are not increasing the number of prisons. Most likely, we are reducing it. Most of our prisons are more than a century old. What we are doing is to build new ones that meet the global standard.”
He said the new direction of the government was to focus on the persons involved in criminal acts and not the crime itself, saying it was the only way to reform offenders.
“We have shifted focus from the crime to the criminals. We are not seeking vengeance for the fact that the offender is human and can change.”