Buhari Changes Name Of Nigerian Prisons Service To ‘Nigerian Correctional Facility’

President Muhammadu Buhari has signed a bill into law on Wednesday, changing the name of the Nigerian Prison Service to Nigerian Correctional Service into law.

Senior Special Assistant to the President on National Assembly Matters, Ita Enang, made the disclosure while speaking with journalists covering the State House in Abuja on Wednesday, 14th August 2019.

According to Enang, the correctional service has two main faculties: custodial service and non-custodial service. He said:

“The non-custodial faculty of the correctional service is responsible for the administration of non-custodial measures, namely: community Service, probation, parole, restorative justice measures and such other measures as a court of competent jurisdiction may order.

“Restorative Justice measure approved in the Act include victim-offender mediation, family group conferencing, community mediation and other conciliatory measures as may be deemed necessary pre-trial, trial during imprisonment or even post- imprisonment stages.”

A top government source said shortly after the passing into law of the bill, the move was meant to give Nigerian prisons a new image and make it function more as a correctional institution rather than mere shelter for persons serving jail terms.