Nigeria’s Minister of Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, has said that the 244 prisons (correctional facilities) across the country are free from coronavirus cases.The minister, who spoke today, April at the Presidential Taskforce on coronavirus daily press briefing in Abuja, said that officers at the correctional centres followed the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) protocol strictly.
He said that the ministry had stopped any form of intake into the correctional centres, adding that the Federal Government had also helped by decongesting the correctional centres with the recent pardon granted to some prisoners by President Muhammadu Buhari.
He attributed non record of Coronavirus case in any of the correctional centres to diligence on the part of its officers, explaining that officials at the correctional centres had maintained a crisis free regime in spite of the tough situation occasioned by COVID-19 pandemic.
Aregbesola said that this was made possible through strict adherence to protocol as established by the NCDC.
He commended the Attorney General of the Federation and the Chief Justice of Nigeria for their support, saying that the combined taskforce of security agencies are on patrol of Nigeria and Cameron borders to forestall the coming of both legal and illegal people into the country.
He commended the governors of Borno, Taraba, Cross Rivers, Benue, among others, for ensuring the prevention of people who could compromise the country’s border.
“The effort we are making as PTF is to ensure that even after this COVID-19, we will look at how we have changed our attitude and a new social economic and spiritual order will emerge.”
Source: NAN.
