100-year-old prisons get makeover as FG steps in

Some of Nigeria’s crumbling, century-old prisons are finally getting the facelift they desperately need.

This is because the Federal Government has kicked off rehabilitation works in at least 12 of the country’s 246 correctional centres.

This is  according to Interior Minister Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, who revealed the development on Thursday during an appearance on Channels TV’s Politics Today.

“These prisons weren’t built yesterday,” the minister said. “Some date back to 1914. We’ve inherited over a hundred years of rot.”

One such facility, the Suleja prison—which recently made headlines after a jailbreak—was founded over a century ago. The infamous Ikoyi prison? Built in 1956.

“It’s unrealistic to expect the President to fix 246 prisons in two years,” Tunji-Ojo said. “But we’re taking bold steps.”

According to him, many prisons didn’t even have a single medical doctor until recently. Now, thanks to President Bola Tinubu’s approval, 50 doctors and 100 nurses have been employed, while NYSC doctors are also being deployed.

“We’ve seen surgeries done at the Kuje prison just weeks ago,” he said. “Port Harcourt prison was in terrible shape—but work is ongoing.”

The minister also hinted at increased security and intelligence efforts behind the scenes but declined to share full details.

“We’re not there yet, but we’re miles ahead of where we used to be,” he added.