Lawmakers Endorses Non-custodial Sentencing

Lawmakers Endorses Non-custodial Sentencing

The  House  of Representatives Committee on Reformatory Institutions has expressed full support for non-custodial sentencing of offenders, as prescribed by the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS) Act, 2019.

The position of the House Committee was made known by the Chairman, Hon. Edwin Anayo at a training workshop for the Development of a Framework for Monitoring and Evaluation of Non-custodial Measures, organised by Prisoners Rehabilitation and Welfare Action (PRAWA) in Abuja on 24th March, 2021.

Hon. Anayo  who described the NCoS Act, 2019 as a paradigm shift from the hitherto punitive approach in managing offenders, also disclosed  that the House of Representatives is   working assiduously to provide budgetary allocation for the administration of non-custodial measures.

In a special remark, Ag. Controller General of Corrections (CGC) John Mrabure, expressed gratitude to the President and Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR, for signing into law , the NCoS Act, 2019.

The Corrections Chief, extolled the lofty provisions of the Act which he said has began addressing the perennial problem of congestion in custodial centres. He added that the new law has also enshrined reformation of offenders as a core mandate of the Service, in line with Global best practice.

Sponsors of the workshop, Rule of Law and Anti-Corruption (RoLAC) of the European Union delivered a goodwill message. Programme Coordinator of RoLAC, Badejobin Oluwatoyin, used the opportunity to commend NwCoS for achieving a lot in the implementation of non-custodial measures with no budgetary allocation.

High points of the occasion include an overview of the implementation of the NCoS Act, 2019 by the Executive Director PRAWA, Dr. Uju Agomoh who also highlighted the specific objectectives of the workshop.

Participants of the workshop are drawn from the National Headquarters and the FCT Command of NCoS.

 
By PRNigeria