Blame Slow Judicial Process For Prisons Congestion – NPS Boss

The leadership of the Nigerian Prisons Service (NPS), has said that the service should not be held responsible for prisons congestion, stressing that it is the slow judicial process that should be blamed.
Controller General,
NPS, Dr. Peter Ekpendu who made this assertion argued that the country’s prisons’ facilities are not congested, saying that it is only the urban prisons that is congested as a result of high number of awaiting trial inmates.
He said: “Nigerian prisons are not overcrowded, only high increase of awaiting trial inmates often brought in by security agencies. We cannot on our own discharge them, without adequate prosecution.”
Meanwhile, the government of Switzerland yesterday donated human rights training manual to the Nigerian Prisons Service (NPS).
The Swiss Ambassador to Nigeria, Niger and Chad, Eric Mayoraz who donated the manual to the controller general of the service, Peter Ekpendu, at the headquarters of the NPS in Abuja, said, “The two countries have been working closely on various issues including that of human rights”.
“Ensuring that human rights are main streamed as a natural and integral part of the operations by the Nigerian Prisons Service is a very important endeavour.
“Over the last years we have been working closely together to build the capacity of NPS staff to comply with international standard in the training of inmates”.
Mayoraz, added that the NPS and Switzerland, including implementing partners, UCHEFEM Consultants have successfully integrated and main streamed a stronger human rights emphasis into the NPS training syllabus at all levels