Topic: Prisons, Immigration recruitment: FG confirms 43 dead

Prisons, Immigration recruitment: FG confirms 43 dead

MINISTER of Interior, Major General Godwin Abbe (Rtd), on Tuesday in Abuja, revealed that about 43 persons lost their lives during the recent recruitment exercise into the Nigeria Prisons Service and the Immigration Service recently conducted.

He also disclosed that about 39,134 inmates were currently in the 230 prisons in the country out of which about 27, 418 inmates are awaiting trial as at March 31, 2008.

Abbe, who made these disclosures at the national ministerial press briefing on the activities of his ministry, said the figure recorded for the dead was a tentative figure and that a high power committee had already been constituted to investigate the matter.

He disclosed that about 370, 000 candidates applied for the about 7000 jobs, describing as unfortunate, the incident that led to the death of some of the applicants.

He said “there is an inquiry already going on to look into the whole incident. Though very unfortunate, we have set up a high power inquiry and they are all working right now.”

He said the Ministry of Interior decided in the spirit of transparency, accountability and equal opportunity and in view of the number of vacancies available which was less than 7000, gave the recruitment exercise the widest publicity to avail Nigerians even at the rural areas the opportunity.

He expressed regret that several people, who were unfit health-wise for a paramilitary organisation, applied and got certificates of medical fitness from doctors but eventually failed to withstand the screening exercise that led to the death of many of them.

Major-General Abbe (Rtd) speaking on the efforts of the government to decongest the Nigerian prisons, said the government was concerned that about 70 per cent of inmates were awaiting trial.

culled from Tribune News

it is quite symphatetic.