Senator Adams Oshiomhole, who heads the Senate Committee on Interior, has expressed deep concern about the substandard quality of meals provided to inmates in Nigerian prisons, comparing it unfavorably to the feeding regimen for dogs in correctional facilities.
Criticizing the feeding practices at the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS), Oshiomhole emphasized the importance of focusing on rehabilitation rather than subjecting inmates to dehumanizing conditions.
During a budget defense session on Thursday, Oshiomhole raised questions about the NCoS’s ability to sustain inmates on a meager budget, particularly when compared to the seemingly higher cost of feeding dogs in the same facilities.
He pointed out the irony that presumed innocent individuals are fed with N750 a day and N250 per meal, while the dogs in custody receive a daily allowance of at least N800.
Oshiomhole underscored the need for a reevaluation of the government’s policy, questioning whether there is an intention to allocate more funds for the nutrition of animals than for humans in custody.
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“It is a policy issue. Whether it is the intention of the government to appropriate money to feed animals than to feed human beings. It is a major policy issue for us,” he emphasized.
During the presentation of the 2023 budget to the joint committee, NCoS Controller General Haliru Nababa disclosed that the service had requested a review of the daily feeding allowance for inmates from N750 to N3,000. However, there had been no approval for the proposed increase at the time of the presentation.
In response, the NCoS appealed to the National Assembly for assistance in approving the proposed increment for the feeding of the 81,354 inmates nationwide, with 53,352 individuals awaiting trial.