By Ibironke Ariyo
Abuja – The Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS) says it has procured 451 operational vehicles in the last five years to address logistics challenges bedeviling the service.
The Controller General, NCoS, Mr Ja’afaru Ahmed, said this at the inauguration of the newly procured 59 vehicles on Tuesday in Abuja.
Ahmed noted that the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari ushered in an unprecedented development into the country since 2015 which had an effect on the service.
He said that between 2016 and 2018, the service inaugurated a total of 397 vehicles, consisting of 218 vehicles with 2016 appropriation, 49 vehicles with 2017 appropriation and 130 vehicles with 2018 appropriation.
“The procurement of the 54 vehicles being inaugurated today, therefore brings the total number of vehicles procured by NCoS under the administration of President Buhari to 451, ” he said.
The CG, however, said that the service still needed more vehicles to meet the expected targets of conveying inmates almost on daily basis to the over 5,000 courts spread across the country.
He assured the Government and the entire citizenry that the NCoS would continue to discharge its mandates in the most effective and efficient manner as to justify the huge investments that had come its way.
On his part , Minister of Interior, Mr Rauf Aregbeshola noted that the service was challenged in the area of logistics which affected its capacity to deliver on its statutory responsibility of conveying inmates to courts at the right time.
According to him, this problem impacted negatively on the inmates’ access to justice as well as the administration of criminal Justice in the country.
“But the administration wasted no time in taking steps to redeem the situation. Hence , the resolve to release funds for the procurement of vehicles on an annual basis since 2015 with a view to bridging the missing gap, ” he said.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that vehicles inaugurated by the minister of Interior, consisted of 36 Mini Green Maria vehicles, 18 Escort duty vehicles and 5 Customised green Maria buses.
Of the total number of vehicles, 54 were procured with the 2019 appropriation while the other five vehicles were part of the 2018 Appropriation.
(NAN)
