Thank you for giving prompt attention to the situation in Afokang Prison in Calabar. As the investigation panel you have set up begins their work, I believe there are problems within the prison system that you already know.
I do not believe that the photos that our news platform, CrossRiverWatch, obtained from Afokang prison are a shock to you or that you are not aware that inmates are going through same and even worse conditions in different prisons across the country.
A combination of inadequate budgetary provision, corruption and low morale amongst personnel, has exposed inmates to some of the most terrible prison conditions in the whole world.
As you investigate Sir, my own suggestions on inmates feeding will be that:
1. Presently, inmates feeding is covered by procurement laws. Because of its nature, and the security implication it poses, inmates feeding should be done directly from the office of the CG of the Correctional Service, under Direct Contract Award, DCA. Should anything go wrong, we know who to hold accountable. This will reduce the pilfering in the present situation where top guns in the service share inmate’s feeding contracts amongst themselves and then resell, while some get kick backs before approving for a contractor.
2. The current approved cost of inmate ration is N1,125 per inmate, per day. Divide that by three square meals and it amounts to N375 per meal. With the very high cost of food items in the market now, it is common knowledge that N375, cannot afford a good meal in Nigeria today. They has to be supplementary appropriation to capture the rise in food prices.
3. Most of the ration contractors who supply food to the Correctional facilities are serving and/or retired top officers of the service and their cronies. They decide what to send to the officers heading various prisons who are usually called – “In-charge Stations”, to use for the purchase of inmates’ ration on a monthly basis. Having run stations as In-charges before, these ration contractors know the sharp practices involved and are aware that sometimes, public spirited individuals and organizations donate raw food items for inmates. This has to be corrected.
4. Out of the N1,125 per meal, per inmate, appropriated, most ration contractors give In-charge stations, a paltry N280 to N300 per meal per inmate.
5. Morale amongst the service personnel is so low due to low pay. They are poorly paid. Which is one of the reasons they continue to share inmates ration amongst themselves and facilitate trafficking of banned items into prison yards.
6. Officers are promoted without placement for more than a year. And when they are finally placed, promotional arrears are not paid. No training or course allowances, no transfer allowance. They print their ID cards in business centers. They don’t have uniformed IDs. They buy and sew their uniforms from the open markets.
7. The only time the service personnel see extra income is when they are made in-charge stations, and are close to retirement. And that becomes an opportunity to amass every available funds to settle themselves knowing that at retirement, their pension is nothing to write home about.
8. As a long term measure, the Correction Service should begin thinking of putting their various farm centers into maximum use so they can produce food that would be used to feed inmates.
Yours sincerely,
Citizen Agba Jalingo.
Disclaimer: The opinion expressed in this article is strictly that of the author, Agba Jalingo, and does not represent TheLumineNews, its agent or the organization the author works for
