The Nigerian Correctional Service, (formerly Nigerian Prisons Service) , Kaduna State Command, says 38 inmates are currently undergoing postgraduate and degree programmes at the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN).
Controller Correctional Service, Kaduna State Command, Sanusi Muazu Dan musa made this known on Thursday when he received officials of Arewa Online Publishers Association (AOPA)
He said 2 of the inmates are doing postgraduate programme , while 36 are for degree programme at Kaduna Correctional Centre alone under the sponsorship of the Federal Government , NOUN and the Correctional Service.
He said apart from the programme, many other skills acquisition trainings including tailoring, carpentry and soap making are being provided at the centres across the State.
The CCS, noted that gone were the days when the service was misunderstood as place of punitive and for criminals, adding that in the actual sense, “it is a place for correction and rehabilitation for those rejected by the society”.
Controller Danmusa, says one of the major challenges the Service is facing is the attitude of the society to reintegrate those that have been rehabilitated back to their normal life, noting that there is a lot of stigmatization by the public on those who are out of prison custody.
“By our change of name, additional responsibilities have been added to us, this new role is a noncustodial role which includes Community Service and Settlement. The settlement is being done with the order of court of competent jurisdiction, which means we now work outside the four walls of the service.” he said.
Hitherto under the Prison Service , their roles were to keep inmates in safe and humane custody, reform and rehabilitate them, and then reintegrate them into the society, he recalls.
Controller Danmusa thanked the Online Publishers for extending their hands of partnership to the Service, saying the Kaduna State Command was always ready to work with the Association in ensuring that the right information about the service was disseminated.
Earlier , the Chairman of the Association, Comrade Zakari Ahmed, said partnering with the Service has become necessary to create awareness among the members of the public especially with the development in the service which has resulted in additional responsibilities.
Zakari, noted that there is need for the public to know and understand what those new roles are and to bring to the public domain ,some of the transformation going on in the Service .
The Association, he said, was founded to correct the impression that every information online was published by journalists, saying “all our members are seasoned journalists who have accomplished their mission in journalism profession.
“And we discovered that most people publishing online are not journalists, so we came together to form this association so we can use the platform for positive change.
Zakari re-assured the Controller of the Association’s readiness to partner it in information dissemination for the good of not only the Service but the society as a whole.
