By Oluwatosin Maliki
In a move to curb terrorism, the Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, has ordered the Controller-General, Nigerian Correctional Service, Haliru Nababa, to probe the allegation against correctional service workers, over their involvement in helping terrorists carry out criminal activities.
Quest Times gathered that the Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Chris Musa, had earlier accused some personnel of the correctional service of working with inmates to finance the operations of terrorists.
The statement read, “The issue of correctional facilities In the North East, when we were debriefing some of the arrested Boko Haram, they were able to tell us how, from the prison, they could plan operations out in the field. They pass funds across”.
Musa stated this while appearing before the House of Representatives on Tuesday, “They use some of the warders there. We are not saying all of them are corrupt. They use their accounts and the deal is that anyone whose account is used shares it 50/50. Those are the challenges”.
Following this, the minister of interior released a statement on Thursday through his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Alao Babatunde, condemning the unpatriotic act by the personnel.
Furthermore, he vowed that any personnel found guilty of such an act would be made to face the law.
Also, “The minister has called for a speedy investigation into the matter, noting that any officer culpable or complicit of sabotaging the Nigerian Correctional Facility, and by extension the security of the country, shall face the full wrath of the law”.
“The minister also wishes to inform the public that actions are underway to reform the correctional service to match international standards where inmates would be truly rehabilitated in line with the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Tinubu”.
The statement added, “The era of talks but no action is over. The Renewed Hope administration will not entertain a breach from any officer. We have the interest of the state to protect, and it is above anyone’s interest.”