The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria, HURIWA has urged President Muhammadu Buhari to sack the Comptroller- General of the Nigerian correctional centre, Alhaji Haliru Nababa over the attack on a prison in Kogi State on Monday.
Nigerianpost recalls that unknown gunmen attacked the federal correctional centre in Kabba, Kabba/Bunu Local Government Area of Kogi State on Monday morning, leading to the death of some officers as inmates escaped the prison.
The gunmen who invaded the facility in a large number gunned down some military men keeping a guide on the road before gaining entrance into the centre.
Reacting, HURIWA described the incident as a grave threat to Nigeria’s national security, stressing that President Buhari needs to pass a “resolutely firm message to his appointees that indiscipline, dereliction of duty and all forms of shows- of –shame would not be tolerated by dismissing the head of the nation’s prisons for failing to effectively secure all the Nigerian Correctional Centres long after he assumed office in February against the backdrops of incessant jailbreaks that have happened in the last twelve months”.
HURIWA expressed disappointment at the leadership of Nigeria’s correctional centres and called on the President to ‘constitute a high-level commission of experts to understudy and publish the causes and practical guides to checking the ugly menace of prison breaks and to identify those internal factors and persons responsible for the hydra-headed monster.
“We appeal to the President to demonstrate that he is a leader who would not tolerate half measures. The constant negative stories of jailbreaks in Nigeria has shown that because President Buhari has been so benevolent and merciful to his misbehaving appointees, so they will not be afraid not to misbehave.
“The security of the Prisons goes beyond mere rhetoric, these constant breaches of security of the prison facilities are meant to tarnish the global image of Nigeria and we urge the President to end these episodes of failures by his appointees in the prison sector.
“The group said reforms in the prison sector understandably should go beyond the mere ceremonial change of name from Nigerian Prison Service to Nigerian Correctional Center. But the Integrity of the prison system matters so much and is the prerequisite to the level of trust in our Justice system globally.”