The Akwa Ibom State Controller, of Prisons Mrs. Pamela Nyong (JP), has raised alarm over poor accommodation of inmates in Uyo, Ikot Ekpene, and Eket Local Government Areas.

 The prison boss told this to newsmen in Uyo that Uyo prison with installed capacity for 613 inmates now plays host to 867;  Ikot Ekpene with installed capacity for 400 now host 679, while Eket with capacity for 123 currently has 328 inmates.

 With total inmates of 1,955, Mrs. Pamela’s breakdown indicates that no fewer than 1, 601 are on the awaiting trial list, while only 354 have been convicted and are serving various terms.

 Mrs. Pamela, who presented the case before the retired Chief Judge (CJ) of the State, Justice Stephen Okon, lamented that pressure was heavily mounting on the prison infrastructures and stressed the need immediate intervention to ward any emergency.

 She explained “The fallout of Criminal Justice System (CJS) is imprisonment, and the Nigerian Prisons Services (NPS) as the third tier of the CJS, is saddled with the responsibility of keeping safe custody of persons legally interred, identify causes for their anti-social behaviour, reform offenders through humane programmes to make them become disciplined and law-abiding citizens of the society.”

 Besides, she also made case for “capacity building through training in different skills of interest to make them self-reliant and productive on discharge”

 She noted that a holistic rehabilitation process for the inmates remains the only antidote to a crime-free society as they ex-prisoners return and reintegrated back in the society.

 Decongestion of prisons through speedy trial and dismissal of cases, according to her, would go a long to reduce the anxiety of crises and other anticipated problems bedeviling the prison system in the State.

 “The adoption of non-custodial sentencing options in line with the provisions of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) 2015, would hopefully reduce inmates’ population, recidivism, financial burden on the State and host of other benefits”, she stressed.

 Also, she made a case for the existing administration of the Justice Committee (JC) to be empowered and State Controllers appointed as members, adding that Prisons Social Welfare Officers (PSWO) should be attached to courts, to enhance quick dispensation of cases.

 “Appointment of Prisons Social Welfare Officers (PSWO) as probation officers attach to courts could serve to enhance the trial process, essentially as they would supply the courts with background details of the offender, and that would help the trial judge to come to an early sentencing decision,” she explained.