200 Years After, Federal Gov’t Plans Relocation Of Overcrowded Keffi Prison

Plans to relocate the over 200-year-old Medium Security Custodial Centre in Keffi, Nassarawa State, have been concluded.

The revelation was made by the Minister of Interior, Dr Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, during a tour to inspect the dilapidated and overcrowded facility, which has, however, undergone rehabilitation, including the construction of new perimeter fencing.

The Minister, during the inspection of the new Medium Security Custodial Centre built in 1820 and located within Keffi town, expressed dismay about the high population of inmates being held in the facility.

LEADERSHIP reports that the Kefgi custodial centre, originally designed to accommodate 340 inmates, now has a total of 750 inmates. And out of the 750 inmates, a total of 605 were awaiting trial.

Dr. Tunji-Ojo, who earlier inspected the ongoing construction of the 3,000-capacity Custodial Centre in Karshi, Abuja, expressed some reservations about the location but noted that the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS) and the Interior Ministry, would deliberate on solutions to the issues raised in his observations.

He said, “Our correctional centres, as we said, have changed from prisons to the Correctional Service. And obviously, it means that there has to be a paradigm shift in ideology, from a place of incarceration to a place of transformation, a place of reformation, and a place of correction.

“When we get back to the office, then we’ll sit down with the NCoS to brainstorm on possible solutions to some of the issues of concern.

“Here in Keffi, the custodial centres are highly populated, and the number of inmates is quite high. We have in Keffi alone the two correctional centres, Keffi New and Keffi Old; we have over 1,000 plus. That is a huge number—almost 1,500.

“We came to look at it, and of course, you know a lot of inmates from FCT get here. We have come to look, and we saw the perimeter fencing because, as we have always said, we do not want a repeat of what happened in Suleja (Niger State).

“We are really investing in perimeter fencing in institutions. You can see, just this year, that perimeter fencing before was just the barbwire, which is transparent for everybody to see inside. The concrete fencing is now complete.

“We are not just limiting it to here. We have done our infrastructure audit, and our government is doing everything possible to make sure that the force majeure that happened in Suleja does not happen anywhere.

“But I have to say this: we have 256 correctional centres, and these 256 correctional centres have been here for more than 100 years. When I speak of 1820, you know, this is 2024, which tells you that this correctional centre is arguably over 200-year-old. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu did not become president 200 years ago.

“Obviously, we are taking each one at a time, and we are making progress, and we’re happy with the progress that we’ve been able to make.

“You can see what I mean by urbanisation; you can see civilian houses sharing fences with the Correctional Centre here in Keffi. It means that this is not sustainable.

“We have to think about relocation because of the effects of urbanisation. Perhaps we will be putting everything in motion to upgrade the facility and to build more facilities in the Keffi New to be able to relocate the Keffi Old to the Keffi New,” the Minister stated.