Lagos State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice Mr. Adeniji Kazeem has pledged to support the Nigerian Prison Service, NPS, to decongest the prisons using the instrumentality of law.
Mr. Adeniji, who spoke during a courtesy visit to the Lagos State Comptroller of Prisons Mr. Vincent Ubi at Alagbon in Ikoyi, said the Prison Service is critical to the administration of justice.
He added: "As a federal agency, the Prison Service is in partnership with Lagos State. It plays an important role in the administration of justice. It is so critical when there is so much crime and people are brought to prison for rehabilitation.
“I want to pledge the full cooperation of my administration and the Ministry of Justice to support prison services. I will be there for you during my tenure."
Mr. Adeniji said the Ministry of Justice now has a community service desk and emphasized the importance of capturing the data base of prisoners 'so as to monitor them.'
Reacting, the Comptroller said Lagos prisons have 6,258 inmates, the highest number in the country, out of which 90 per cent are from the South West.
Ubi said: "No other state has such number. When the police arrest criminals, they take them to court and the court remands them in prison. So, the bus stop of national security is the prison.”
He urged the Lagos State Security Council to always involve officers of the Nigeria Prison Service in any decision concerning security in the state.
The Attorney-General, who also paid a visit to the Office of the Public Defender (OPD), promised to see to the welfare of staff of the agency through provision of work materials and personnel.
The Director of the OPD, Barrister Omotola Rotimi, said the agency is grappling with a lot of challenges such as insufficient funding, not enough laptops, inadequate manpower, shoddy investigation by the police and delay in trials especially for domestic violence cases.
She added that the agency has handled and successfully completed 4, 008 cases this year while 364 cases are still in court
Mr. Adeniji, who spoke during a courtesy visit to the Lagos State Comptroller of Prisons Mr. Vincent Ubi at Alagbon in Ikoyi, said the Prison Service is critical to the administration of justice.
He added: "As a federal agency, the Prison Service is in partnership with Lagos State. It plays an important role in the administration of justice. It is so critical when there is so much crime and people are brought to prison for rehabilitation.
“I want to pledge the full cooperation of my administration and the Ministry of Justice to support prison services. I will be there for you during my tenure."
Mr. Adeniji said the Ministry of Justice now has a community service desk and emphasized the importance of capturing the data base of prisoners 'so as to monitor them.'
Reacting, the Comptroller said Lagos prisons have 6,258 inmates, the highest number in the country, out of which 90 per cent are from the South West.
Ubi said: "No other state has such number. When the police arrest criminals, they take them to court and the court remands them in prison. So, the bus stop of national security is the prison.”
He urged the Lagos State Security Council to always involve officers of the Nigeria Prison Service in any decision concerning security in the state.
The Attorney-General, who also paid a visit to the Office of the Public Defender (OPD), promised to see to the welfare of staff of the agency through provision of work materials and personnel.
The Director of the OPD, Barrister Omotola Rotimi, said the agency is grappling with a lot of challenges such as insufficient funding, not enough laptops, inadequate manpower, shoddy investigation by the police and delay in trials especially for domestic violence cases.
She added that the agency has handled and successfully completed 4, 008 cases this year while 364 cases are still in court
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