The Controller-General of Prisons, Ahmed Ja’afaru, has been summoned by the Senate to to explain why underage offenders should be confined with adults in the nation’s prisons.
The Senate also urged various security agencies involved in the arrest and detention of juveniles to ensure that they were not incarcerated beyond 48 hours.
These resolutions followed a motion on “Illegal Confinement of Underage Offenders/Infants in the Same Prison with Adult Prisoners” by Sen. Victor Umeh (APGA-Anambra) at plenary.
Umeh noted that he was traumatised by the gory pictures of underage children languishing in prison as contained on pages 13 to 15 of the Nation Newspaper of Saturday, March 31.
According to him the report was captioned “Kids Behind Bars: World of Underage Languishing in Prison.”The lawmaker alleged police prosecutors encouraged under-age offenders to inflate their ages during arraignment in courts, assuring them that such practice would lead to their release.
The prayers of the motion were unanimously adopted by the lawmakers after a voice vote by Senate President Bukola Saraki.
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Crime