As part efforts to sustain the existing harmonious working relationship between the judiciary and the Nigeria Prisons Service, the Kogi Judiciary has reiterated its preparedness to lend a helping hand towards the repositioning of the Nigeria Prisons Service.
The Chief Judge of Kogi State, Honourable Justice Nasiru Ajanah made this known in Lokoja at the state’s judiciary headquarters when he received Mr. Joseph Gankon, the new Controller of Prisons, Kogi State command.
Justice Ajanah that the fortune of the prison formations in the country and particularly those of the state deserve a well-tailored attention to completely overhaul its operational modalities.
He however commended the leadership of the organization for making concerted efforts to review its operations even as he observed that a lot was still desired considering the condition of prisons and those of the inmates across the country.
While appreciating that the judiciary and the Nigerian Prisons Service have been partners in progress, he said he welcome the new Controller with open arms promising to continue working with him as he has done with his predecessors.
“I welcome you to the state. We have had a fantastic relationship with the prison service in the state. We have had a lot of cooperation between us because we both work together on issues of persons in detention. We had intervened when informed on problems with bringing accused persons to court. We have tried our possible best to assist in that area and will continue to do so if we can,” he said.
On the congestion of the prisons, he disclosed that the courts were putting their best to speedily try criminal cases before them. He noted that the domestication of the Administration of the Criminal Justice Act 2015 through promulgation of the Kogi State Administration of Criminal Justice Law 2017 was already making impact on the trial of cases in the state.
Towards this end, he informed his guest that the state judiciary’s annual ritual of embarking on prisons decongestion exercise in the state prisons would be embarked upon before the end of the year. He said the process has potently in decongesting prisons in the state as serves as avenue to review the cases of awaiting trial inmates and give a vista of hope to those wrongly detained.
In addition to the decongestion exercise, the CJ also promised to draw the attention of the state government to the plight of the prison formations in the state while noting that the prisons deserve to be constantly hygienic and safe.
He said: “We have the intention to visit the prisons to review the cases of those awaiting trials that are in detention as we do annually. But we hope to do that on our resumption from our annual vacation. And to ensure that our prison formations are kept in good condition, I will try to encourage the state government to assist where possible.”
Earlier, the new Controller of Prisons told the CJ that his mission in Kogi State was to further ensure that the prison service maintains its place of pride among the paramilitary organizations in the state.
He said what informed his visit to the stakeholders in the state with a view to appreciating their roles and introducing them to the decision to reform and smoothen its service delivery mechanisms. He observed that even though it was his first posting to head a command but having been serving at the headquarters, his field experiences would be amply deployed to the benefit of the state within the ambit of the law while also soliciting the CJ’s support.
“Though I have being at the headquarters in Abuja in the past and now in a new field, I Promise to always do just as expected of the law. We will depend on you for what we do by following the laid down regulations and making the state very comfortable for all,” he said.
According to the Command’s PRO, the new controller who has been meeting with stakeholders since his deployment to the state hails from Kafanchan in Kaduna State. He said the controller has been the head of strategic units of the service in the past becoming a former commander of the Prison Arm and Training School, Oweri; the former Commander in charge of the Assault Unit of the service; Controller in charge of operations and a one-time Squadron Commander in charge of arms.
Credit: Western Post
