The Federal Government said it has trained 10,463 additional officers of the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS) and had ordered them to effectively and efficiently handle firearms to protect its facilities across the country.
The Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola disclosed this during a State House Briefing with newsmen on Thursday.
The development followed the attack on the Kuje Medium Correctional Facility by terrorists on July 2022, as well as other jailbreaks recorded in the country.
“We are mandating officers in charge of our facilities to not just carry pistols but high-capacity weapons. Before now, officers were just officers, if they hear a gunshot they will dive under their beds, but since the Kuje attack, we have changed that.
“They are now trained progressively to boldly confront themselves, and lead the action of repelling whoever attempts to violate our facilities and we have declared the facility red zone,” he said.
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Aregbesola noted that the agency is building custodian facilities in the six geopolitical zones of the country with the one situated in Janguza, Kano State about 90 per cent completed.
“The 3000 inmates capacity ultra-modern custodian is an innovation that is almost parallel, it is a custodian village. One of the highlights of that facility is that you don’t use firewood but the excretes of the inmate to produce biogas to cook their food among others,” he noted.
According to him, the NCoS purchased 799 vehicles to move inmates to and from courts and other operations including ambulances and vehicles for farm inspections.
