20 BOKO HARAM SUSPECTS PROTEST NON-TRIAL

… Minister threatens
comptroller-general

No fewer than 20 Boko Haram
suspects awaiting trial in Kuje Prisons in the Federal Capital Territory
yesterday protested that they have not been tried by the prison authorities
since last year.

Out of about 545 inmates at the
prison, 429 are awaiting trial with 10 condemned and five sentenced to life
imprisonment.

The inmates, who expressed
their displeasure to the Minister of Interior, Comrade Abba Moro, when he
visited the maximum prison yesterday, claimed they have been in detention for a
period of one year without being tried by a court of competent jurisdiction.

The suspects were arrested in
Kano and Borno states on the suspicion of having a link with the dreaded sect,
waging war in the north early last year.

The inmates told the minister
to provide additional vehicles to the Kuje Prisons so as to facilities movement
of inmates to court for trial.

Also speaking on behalf of
other inmates, one of them said he has spent eight years in Kuje Prison,
blaming the slow justice delivery on the over-crowdedness of Nigerian prisons.

While narrating his experience
further, he informed the minister that he has been to court more than 57 times
within the period.

The inmate, therefore, urged
the minister to do everything within his power to fast-track the justice system
in the country, adding that not all inmates in the prison were criminals.

Responding, Moro assured the
inmates that the federal government is working on modalities to improve on the
justice system by establishing a special trial court.

Investigation by Blueprint showed that the maximum prison, 
which has a capacity of 560 inmates, can boast of only two vehicles for
conveying inmates to court.

In another development, 
Moro yesterday sounded a note of warning to the Comptroller General of Nigeria
Prison Service (NPS), Alhaji Zakari Ibrahim, over what he described as a
negative attitude to work at the  Kuje Prison.

The minister, who was
practically angry with the attitude of the prison staff towards work, lambasted
the prisons boss for poor utilisation of government facilities at the prison.

Moro, who was visiting the
prison for the first time since assumption of office as minister, told Ibrahim
that he would not take any excuse from any head of agency as Nigerians expect a
perfect system from them.

His words: “I will be very disappointed
if the facilities on ground are not properly utilized to ensure sustainability.

“Making the system work is not
about money. The government is not ready and will not accept laxity from
anybody.

“The prison leadership will be
held accountable for any failure, because I will also be accountable if any of
the prison system fails.

“Let it not be heard that there
is a jail-break and someone feigns ignorance, because Nigerians will not take
excuse as they expect so much from you.”

Moro further charged him to
ensure that the system exists even without government funding.

“I enjoin you to step up your
activity so that all the facilities I have seen today can sustain the service
even if the government does not provide the needed fund,” he said.

The facilities the minister
inspected at the prison included the dog unit, the industrial complex which
comprises of soup making, laundry, carpentry, textile, tailoring and welding,
as well as the poultry, perimeter wall and the prison clinic.

While thanking the minister for
the visit, the comptroller general admitted that there was a system failure,
but assured him that the service will improve on the lapses noted by the
minister.