Aregbesola commends Soyombo undercover investigation, condemns dehumanisation in prisons

Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola, has condemned the dehumanisation of inmates in Nigerian prisons, insisting that such had no place in modern rehabilitation strategies.

The minister, who made the statement on Thursday while reacting to an investigative report by journalist, Fisayo Soyombo, said that the journalist must be commended for exposing and bringing to light the happenings in Nigeria’s prisons.

Fisayo, in his investigative report, spent two weeks in detention — five days in a police cell and eight as an inmate in Ikoyi Prison — to track corruption in Nigeria’s criminal justice system, beginning from the moment of arrest by the police to the point of release by the prison.

Aregbesola said, “You cannot dehumanise people in confinement and expect them to be anything better when they come out.

“The warders should internalise the need to appreciate human dignity in the management of the inmates so that when he or she comes out, they would be a better person.

“I commend the journalist who has worked to ensure that we see ourselves at least in an aspect of operation that we must review and improve.”