The Controller of Corrections, Nigeria Correctional Service (NCoS), FCT Command, Christopher Jen, has pledged to improve staff welfare as well as vocational and educational programs for inmates across custodial centers in the territory.
Jen made the pledge during a familiarization and inspection tour of custodial facilities under the FCT command in Abuja. According to a statement by the command’s public relations officer, Mr Samson Duza, on Monday in Abuja, the centers visited included the Medium Security Custodial Centres in Kuje and Suleja.
Other facilities on the tour were the Custodial Model Farm Centre Dukpa, Poultry Unit, Soap Cottage, Juvenile Violent Extremist Offender (JVEO) Deradicalisation Centre Suleja, and the Industrial Complex Kuje.
Jen said the tour underscores his commitment to reforming and improving the operations of the FCT command to ensure a more secure and rehabilitative environment for both staff and inmates.
He urged staff to maintain professionalism and adhere strictly to humanitarian principles in the discharge of their duties.
“Our job is a humanitarian job; hence it is a sacrificial job. I ask staff to be more humane, empathic to inmates, and to improve security.
“Let us avoid embezzlement and be professional at all times. I will make the job easy for officers and inmates alike,” he said.
Jen emphasised that correctional service was not only a duty but also a humanitarian endeavour, stressing that ethical conduct was critical to effective facility management.
He also addressed inmates during the tour, advising them to be law-abiding and to take advantage of the rehabilitation opportunities available to them.
“This is a chance for you to turn your lives around. I urge you to enroll in our vocational skills and educational programmes.
“By doing so, you will be better equipped to become law-abiding citizens and contribute positively to society when you are discharged.
“Furthermore, I promise to open more skills acquisition programmes to empower you with the necessary skills to become self-reliant and productive members of the society,” he said.
The controller assured inmates that redundant vocational programmes would be resuscitated, while more skills acquisition opportunities would be introduced across the custodial centres.
