http://allafrica.com/stories/200410050733.html
Stanley Ibe
"Every October, when the nation marks its independence anniversary various governments in the federation routinely free prisoners from the nation's overcrowded jails and grant them amnesty. Last week was no exception, but beyond this annual cosmetic ritual release of prisoners lies a very urgent need for radical reforms of Nigeria's penal institutions.
A renowned criminologist, Professor Adedokun Adeyemi described the Nigerian prison system as lacking "both deterrent and reformative value." Accordingly, " it has become very costly to the economy, it is physiologically, psychologically and emotionally destructive, it is socially damaging, it is culturally abhorrent, and it is penologically disastrous."
Those scathing but frank remarks about the Nigerian Prison system reinforce the position of penal reform enthusiasts on the state of Nigerian prisons and the imperatives for reform. It is instructive to note that the distribution of our prison population shows that the greater majority of these inmates fall within the productive age bracket. In the words of H.S Labo "...the vast majority of prison inmates belong to the 16-50 year old economically productive bracket most of whom remain in prison awaiting trial for many years, in a most de-humanizing condition...immense emotional and psychological stress are common antecedents of the custodial circumstances of imprisonment." This does have far-reaching implications for our commitment to improving the economy."
