EXAMINATION PRISON ADMINISTRATION AND CRIME PREVENTION IN NIGERIA
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
Crime is any act or behaviour which violates the norms (normative behaving) of a society. This would mean that a criminal should be seen as any person who breaks any of the rules or norm of behaviour by which society is governed and has the possibility of affecting the well-being of other members of the society.(Roth 2006) Therefore, the
importance of crime prevention and control, maintenance of law and order to the development and growth of a society,both in the physical and economic sense, cannot be over emphasized. Roth (2006) is of the opinion that ‘it is only a mind that is secured and at peace that can rationally address the issues
of procreation,economic development and societal growth. A disturbed mind is a restless and distraught personality. It
is therefore imperative to have peace and order in the society to assure its growth and development.The role of law
enforcement in the maintenance of peace and order as well as crime prevention in the society is a foregone
conclusion.
Every man by nature is selfish and self-centered, in most case;he needs the presence of the state institution of law
enforcement to be able to act right. By its establishment philosophy, the Nigerian Prisons Service is an institution
meant to administer penal treatment to adult offenders. It isan important and indispensable institution in the bid to reduce crime in the society. On the basis of imprisonment policy, the Nigerian Prisons Service was established to
manage criminals in prison yards. These constitutional functions empower the prison operatives to:
- Keep convicted offenders (prisoners) in safe custody
- Keep awaiting trial inmates in custody, until law courts demand their production
- Punish offenders as prescribed by the law courts
- Reform the convicted prisoners
- Rehabilitate and re-integrate prisoners who have completed the sentences in the prison. (Hannah, 2012) Inferring from the above, the main aim of establishing the prison institution in all parts of the world including Nigeria is
to provide a rehabilitation and correctional facility for those who have violated the rules and regulations of their
society. However, the extent to which this maxim is true in practice has been a subject of controversy. Instances
abound where the prisons have become a training ground for criminals instead of rehabilitation home in Nigeria (Obioha 2011).
Prison Administration is a complex dynamics of various divisions or units that provide a range of services in the
management of prisons. Such services may include policy formulation and implementation, finance and budgeting,
personnel management and operations and such others. (Aina, 2010). Prison Administration is further executed by
other institutions of government who are co-players in ensuring a holistic management of the prison system. Such
institutions include the police which are saddled with the responsibility of arresting, investigating, interrogating and
prosecuting an offender
However, the worry about the manifestation that Nigerian Prisons Service has not lived up to expectation in terms of
impacting positively on the lives and vocations of inmates has raised several questions that have not yet been
completely addressed on the system’s functions and existence.
Invariably, all of these issues cannot be isolated from the dynamics involved in prison administration in Nigeria which
is characterized by the system failure identified with the key players such as the police and the judiciary, which are
saddled with collaborative roles in achieving effective prison administration.
With these key players generally being indicted of corruption and the Nigeria police specifically being alleged of
ineptitude especially as regards investigations of cases, the judiciary also being accused of perennial delay in criminal
trials as well as the Nigeria Prisons Service itself being undermined by shortcomings such as undue political
interference, inadequate facilities, irregular and inadequate training for staff and inmates, in fact, the effectiveness of
the Nigerian prison system might have been eroded (Emeka, 2011).
The drive to re-position the Nigerian Prisons Service for an improved service delivery in concert with other key
players involved in prison administration in Nigeria has therefore necessitated this study.It is against this background
that this study is considered pertinent in order to inquire into prison administration and crime prevention in Nigeria
with a particular reference to Nigerian Prison Service, Agodi Gate Ibadan. - 1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
- The prison system is an integral component of the whole process of criminal justice system and crime prevention.
The main aim of establishing the prison institution in all parts of the world including Nigeria is to provide a
rehabilitation and correctional facility for those who have violated the rules and regulations of their society. However,
the extent to which this maxim is true in practice has been a subject of controversy. Instances abound where the
prisons have become a training ground for criminals instead of rehabilitation home in Nigeria (Obioha 2011)
Issues have been raised on security of lives and property of the citizens, safe custody of inmates, prison congestion,
unavailability of detainees in court resulting in adjournment of cases, unhygienic and dilapidated prison environment
sometimes resulting in epidemics ill treatment of inmates resulting in recidivism, low level of training on meaningful undertakings resulting into failure in rehabilitation of prisoners and proper integration into the society after prison terms (Ogunwumiju, 2013).
EXAMINATION PRISON ADMINISTRATION AND CRIME PREVENTION IN NIGERIA