FG increases inmate feeding allowance by 50%
The Federal Government has approved a 50 per cent increase in the feeding allowance for inmates in Nigeria.
The increase, effective from August 2024, aims to address rising food costs and bring about improvement to the welfare of inmates.
The spokesperson for the Nigeria Correctional Service, Abubakar Umar, confirmed the increase on Thursday.
He described it as the “first phase” of a broader review intended to enhance living conditions for inmates.
“The inmate feeding allowance has been increased by 50 per cent, effective from August 2024. This is just the first phase,” Umar said.
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“According to the latest figures from the NCoS, Nigeria currently has 84,575 inmates. For the 2024 budget year, the NCoS has been allocated over N24.4 billion for catering materials and foodstuffs.
“The need for an increase in the feeding allowance has been a public concern, especially after it was revealed in December 2023 by the Controller General of the NCoS, Haliru Nababa, that N750 was allocated per day for each prisoner, while N800 was spent daily on feeding each of the 900 dogs in the service.
Inmate welfare issues gained further attention recently after a viral video from the Afokang Custodial Centre in Calabar, Cross River State, showed inmates being served poorly cooked meals.
This sparked public outrage and led to an investigation ordered by the Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, into the conditions at the facility.
The NCoS confirmed that the investigation is ongoing, emphasising that the incident does not reflect the overall standards of care and commitment to inmate welfare across the country.
Proofreading by Gift Luckson, Editor at Neptune Prime.
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