The Interior Minister, Mr. Rauf Aregbesola has put the total number of inmates from correctional centres who escaped during jail breaks across the country since 2020 at 4,860.
There had been reported cases of jails breaks in some correctional centres located in Benin, Owerri and Oyo, among others, with several inmates still at large.
The minister who gave the figure yesterday, while featuring at a ministerial press briefing at the State House, Abuja, further explained that only 954 inmates had so far been rearrested, while 3,906 others were still on the run.
He, however, assured of the capability of the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCS) to re-arrest the escapee inmates, saying with time those still at large would be taken into custody.
“How long can they continue to run from the state? The state is a patient bird. You can run but you can never hide. Whenever and wherever they appear to transact any business, their cover will be blown,” he added.
According to him, the biometrics of all custodial inmates in the country had long been taken, which would enable the escapees to be tracked and rearrested.
“I will like to inform Nigerians that we have captured the biometric information of all inmates in the facilities of NCoS working in partnership with the Nigerian Identity Management Commission (NIMC).
“Therefore, we have the capacity and are tracking all escapees from our facilities. In addition, we are working with and have shared the details of escapees with INTERPOL, to check the risks of cross border movements.”
The minister also said 465 inmates were running various degrees programmers around the country, adding that 85 of the inmates are running postgraduate programmes including four who are doing Ph.D programmes.
He said 560 inmates have been enrolled for WAEC/NECO examinations while 2,300 enrolled for Adult Literacy classes in several custodial centers.
Aregbesola assured that the challenge associated with procuring international passports would soon be a thing of the past as he disclosed that no fewer than 2,742,207 passports had been issued by the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) in the last two years.
According to him: “It is important to inform you that we have witnessed growing demand for the Nigerian passport both locally and by Nigerians in diaspora. A total of 2,742,207 passports of different categories were issued between 2019 to date.
“The year-on-year increasing growth rate is however putting a lot of pressure on the current processing structure and resources and further justifies the need for a reform in the passport application and processing system in line with the current reality,.”
According to him, the ministry was not unaware of the challenges Nigerians face trying to process passports, adding that efforts are being made to deal with the problem.
“The Ministry is aware of the challenges faced by applicants for processing and reissue of passports. I want to use this unique opportunity to assure Nigerians that the current experience will soon be a thing of the past. New production and capture centres will be opened in the next few weeks to ease access by Nigerians all over the world.
“I am pleased to inform Nigerians that the Ministry has taken substantial measures to address the issue of shortages of the e-passport booklets.
“This year alone, the Ministry approved a special deployment of over 600,000 passport booklets, the largest of its kind ever done, to cushion the effects of shortages being experienced,” he said.
On current efforts to tackle corruption in the Ministry and its parastatals, Aregbesola cited the recent sting operation carried out by the Acting Comptroller General of the NIS, Isa Jere, at both Ikeja and Ikoyi Passport Offices, saying reforms such as new appointment management system were being put in place to rout corruption.
The former governor of Osun state also stressed that 174,000 jobs have been created for Nigerians through the administration of Expatriate Quotas and Business Permits.
He added: “Between 2019 and October 2021, over 87 000 expatriate quotas were granted, 951 business permits were granted and 598 licenses were issued to public places of worship for the conduct of statutory marriages.
“172,000 understudy jobs have been created through the expatriate quota administration system. We recently inaugurated a Ministerial Task Force on the Monitoring of Expatriate Quota.
“The primary objective is to audit, monitor and enforce the conditions for the approval of expatriate quota and foreign business permit. Nigerians may wish to note that one of the
conditions for the approval of Expatriate Quota is that for every expatriate position, the company must employ two Nigerians to understudy the expatriate.”
On the fire service’s response to the recent collapse of a 21-storey building at Ikoyi, Lagos, the Minister said the Federal Fire Service (FFS) did not shirk in its responsibility as it responded promptly to salvage the situation.
According to him, officials of the FFS were the first responders who did their utmost best during the rescue operation that lasted for days.