We Spend 3Million Naira Daily To Feed Prisoners- FG

The Federal Government of Nigeria has revealed how it spends a whooping sum of three million naira daily to feed criminals at the correctional centers across the federation.

This revelation was made by the Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji Ojo while featuring on Tuesday edition of Channel’s TV Politics Today.

Speaking on plans to decongest the already congested correctional facilities in the country, the minister disclosed that it does not make any sense to keep people with minor offenses in prison for years without convicting or releasing them.

He confirmed that most of the people considered to be prisoners today are there for reasons that cannot be established.

“How do you explain a situation where someone is spending 5, 7 years in prison because he was accused of stealing 5,000 naira? Or someone whose case has been tried and granted bail but due to the fact that he cannot meet the bail condition, he is kept in the facility for years without hope of leaving anytime soon?”

The minister further argued that most of the offences that landed people in jail are minor offences that should have been settled at the police station, saying Nigerian prisons have already been congested and there is no point congesting it further.

“On daily basis, we spend as much as three million naira to feed them. We will also release money for maintenance and other expenses. We can’t continue that way and that is the reason we have to look into it and find a way of decongesting the prisons.” The minister stated.