Boko Haram kills 50 warders

 The Controller-General of Nigerian Prisons Service (NPS), Mr. Zakari Ohinoyi Ibrahim, has disclosed that about 50 employees have lost their lives to Boko Haram attacks on prison facilities in the North.
Ibrahim, who spoke in Calabar during a workshop on an “Overview of the Management of the Prisons Welfare Insurance Scheme- challenges and opportunities,” noted that several other men and officers have also been injured due to organized attacks on prisons formations by the Islamist sect.
He said: “As I am talking now, no fewer than 50 staff of the Nigerian Prisons have been killed by the Boko Haram insurgency and that is affecting our operations. Besides, several officers have sustained serious injuries.

“But we are not deterred by that as we are still doing our best to beef up security. My officers are always at alert and we are collaborating with other agencies to curb the menace.” He decried the slow pace of justice dispensation and the near abandonment of awaiting trial inmates, which, according to him, triggers agitation and escape bid among convicts.
On the challenges of Nigerian Prisons, Ibrahim said congestion has caused slow judicial system as well as the inability to convey the inmates awaiting trial to court effectively because of logistics problem.
“We have the problem of inherited old structures because some of these structures were not designed for the categories of prisoners we have today and we are gradually phasing out some of these structures with modern facilities. Also, there is the need to update facilities and equipment in line with the sophistication of crime,” he said.
Ibrahim, however, expressed satisfaction with the Prisons Welfare Insurance Scheme, saying that the programme has brought relief to the injured and deceased families through prompt payment of claims without the bureaucracy usually associated with insurance claims.
The Controller –General stated that the scheme has been expanded whereby 700 persons ranging from low level, middle and top officials have benefitted from vehicles given to them by the insurance scheme.
He said the policy has helped to guarantee their immediate financial needs before other entitlements are paid, noting that it is because of the benefits that the present administration had decided to give attention to welfare and training for both staff and inmates as strategic thrust to guide our service delivery.
 From JUDEX OKORO, CalabaR