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FILE: Correctional facility.
The Nigerian Correctional Service has disclosed that the 2025 budget will capture new inmates’ feeding allowance.
The spokesperson for the Nasarawa State NCoS Command, Stephen Abene, confirmed this on Tuesday to The PUNCH, explaining that the adjustment aims to align with current economic realities.
He said the increase to N1,150 per day from N750 was a government-approved measure to improve inmate welfare and address nutritional concerns.
“The government recently approved N1,150 for feeding per inmate from N750, which will be captured in the 2025 budget. This upward review is to meet up with the present economic reality,” he told The PUNCH.
Public attention to inmate conditions intensified after a December 2023 disclosure by NCoS Controller General, Haliru Nababa, that the prisoner’s food allowance was N750 per day, whereas the daily allocation for each of the 900 dogs maintained by the service was N800.
In August 2024, a viral video from the Afokang Custodial Centre in Calabar showed poorly prepared meals being served to inmates, sparking widespread criticism and prompting an investigation ordered by the Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo.
The NCoS had then stated that what was seen in the video did not reflect the general standard of care across facilities but added that an investigation would be carried out.
Most recently, a report claimed that 12 inmates at the Keffi Medium Security Custodial Centre in Nasarawa State died in September 2024 from an illness linked to inadequate nutrition.
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