Godswill Akpabio, the president of the Nigerian Senate, asserted on Tuesday that since Nigeria Prisons Service was renamed the Nigerian Correctional Service, there have been more jailbreaks in the nation.
When a bill to modify the Revenue Mobilization Allocation and Fiscal Commission Act was being considered, Akpabio brought this up.
“Since the adoption of that name, we have had more jailbreaks,” adding that “Laws are meant to punish and to correct. If by the time you are convicted and you are sent to prison, you are even meant to learn a skill and ethical reorientation and all that. It is not only when we specifically call it a correctional centre and yet we are not correcting anything,” he was quoted.
he added, “I support the idea of having a thorough examination of the bill for the amendment to the RMAFC Act to avoid making the same mistake we made in coming up with the Correctional Services as a name.”
Since former President Muhammadu Buhari signed the Nigerian Correctional Service Act, 2019 into law on August 15, 2019, the nation has seen at least ten jailbreaks.
The previous name of the organization was the Nigerian Prisons Service. In Nigeria, there were eight documented prison outbreaks in 2021–2022, which led to the flight of almost 4,000 prisoners.
Nationwide, there were five jail breakouts in 2021 and three in 2022. Following an attack by gunmen on April 5, 2021, 1844 prisoners broke free from the Owerri Correctional Centre in Imo State.