Mr Anthony Ubaike, the Deputy Controller of Prisons in charge of Onitsha prison, says only 53 out of the 898 inmates at the prison had been convicted.
Ubaike said on Tuesday in Onitsha, Anambra, that 845 of the inmates were awaiting trial.?
He also spoke on the congestion in the prison, saying that although the prison's original capacity was for 326 inmates “today, it has 898 inmates’’.
Ubaike, however, stated that the Controller-General of Prisons was working in partnership with relevant bodies in the judicial, prosecution and investigative process to decongest the prisons nationwide.
“The ongoing prison reform in the country is equally geared towards making the Nigerian prisons a habitable place for the inmate.
“Our prisons are no longer punitive, but are now correctional and reformatory facilities which is meant not only to punish offenders for wrong doing but to reform them and rehabilitate them to contribute towards the betterment of our society”, he said.?
Ubaike had earlier hosted two Non Governmental Organisations (NGOs), the Guardian Angel Foundation and Moment of Praise, whose members joined the inmates to celebrate the Valentine Day.
He thanked the NGOs for using the Valentine Day to show love to the inmates.
Earlier, Mrs Angel Udeogalanya of Guardian Angel Foundation, urged the inmates to be of good behaviour and to learn a hand-craft or trade while in the prison.
The two organisations donated food, materials and toiletries to the inmates.?
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