Rotary Club of Kubwa Partner Other Clubs to Secure Release of 10 Inmates, Rally Support for Others Unable to Pay Fines

  

The Rotary Club of Kubwa in Abuja  has appealed to well meaning Nigerians to assist prison inmates with minor offenses to  pay their fines  as part of  measures towards promoting peace and conflict prevention.

Speaking against the backdrop of  its efforts last week which saw to the release of  some  inmates who have been languishing in the Nigeria Correctional Service, Suleja Custodial Centre in the neighbouring Niger State due to their inability unable  to pay the option of fine given to them by respective courts, the  President, Rotary Club  of Kubwa, Rotn Lovina Okorn-Ntui-PHF  revealed that the inmates numbering 10 regained their freedom  when the club    in partnership with other clubs secured  their release last week after offsetting their fines.

The  President, Rotary Club  of Kubwa, Rotn Lovina Okorn-Ntui-PHF(  4th from the right-Front row), in a group photo with some of the freed inmates(squatting). She is flanked by Rotn Humphrey Ukeh of Abuja Garki(From the left),  Joyce Uche of Abuja Crystals, the Assistant Controller of Suleja Custodial Center, Musa Abdulrahman   and Cleo Washima,  District Rotaract Representative ( DRR).(From the right). 

The clubs which collaborated with the Rotary Club of Kubwa to facilitate the release of the inmates are the Rotary Club of Jabi Lakeside, Rotary Club of Abuja Prestige, Rotary Club of Asokoro and  Rotary Club of Abuja Crystals, Rotary Club of Garki

She said the gesture   was part of the projects embarked upon in line with Rotary International's theme for  the month of February, 'Peace and Conflict Prevention', which is part of the seven focus of Rotary.

Okorn-Ntui-PHF who spoke in an interview said many inmates some of whom are women were sentenced for minimal offenses ranging from failure to pay a debt they owe and have been wasting away in prison simply because they could not pay the option of fine given to them.

"As part of activities for this Rotary year,  we decided to  visit the Suleja Correctional Centre in collaboration with six other clubs to free some of these inmates who had been stranded in prison because they could not pay their fines and return home," she said.

While lamenting the appalling state of the Nigeria Correctional Centres, she said the clubs  were able to raise funds for the inmates to secure their release  as this will help to decongest the prison especially with the ongoing COVID 19 pandemic which has killed many, leaving more persons infected.

The President of Rotary Club of Kubwa, Rotn Lovina Okorn-Ntui-PHF flanked by other rotarians during the visit to the  Suleja Correctional Centre to secure the release of the 10 inmates.

 She revealed that the facility was being overstretched as the centre which was  initially built to accommodate only 500 inmates now accommodates a total of 820 inmates crammed together in an inconducive environment.

"The whole place is stale, no ventilation, so it is not safe for the inmates or  even the staff of the prison. 

You can not  call this correctional centre because as far as I'm concerned,  the people coming out from here will not come out better. 

"There are no good clinical facilities or dormitories for  inmates to sleep and I didn't see any skill acquisition centre where they are being trained, so the Nigerian government still has a lot to do in that area," said the Rotarian.

 2nd from the right, President of Rotary Club of Kubwa, Rotn Lovina Okorn-Ntui-PHF. She is flanked by  the chairman of the project, Rotn David Chinoso Emmanuel(1st from the left) ,  District Rotaract Representative and Rotarian Ebuka during the visit to the Suleja Correctional Centre last week.(1st from the right).

This was as she called on other well meaning Nigerians to collaborate and partner with the correctional centres to decongest the prisons and make the correctional centres more habitable for inmates 'so that they can come out reformed and rehabilitated to  fit into the society."

Okorn-Ntui-PHF advised  government to expand the correctional centres and increase the facilities to enable them function effectively and optimally.

The Rotary Club President said Rotary Club of Kubwa will adopt the gesture as it's annual project  by  periodically going to the prison to identify inmates with minor or minimal cases whose sentences have been executed but could not pay up their fines  so that they  don't remain there wasting  away and making the prison congested. 

She revealed that the Rotary Club of Kubwa  had  also engaged in other peace initiatives like the renovation of  the police out station in Byazhin Across in Kubwa between November and December 2020 and donated 

vital office equipment like cabinets, tables and benches to them to boost their moral for optimal service.

During the commissioning of the  police out station in Byazhin Across, Kubwa, renovated  by the Rotary Club of Kubwa  as part of its peace and conflict prevention project.

Aside this, the Rotarian disclosed that the club under her  leadership had executed other project in 2020 in their adopted community, an abandoned community with no government presence, Kungabukon in Bwari Area Council which included the revamping  of the primary health centre in the community.

The Primary Health Centre revamped  by the Rotary Club of Kubwa in Kungabukon community,  Bwari Area Council.

"The club also held a medical outreach during our community family health day for all the community members. "

"We carried out treatment of common diseases for over 100 indigenes, testing for hypertitis and vaccination for 50 people, eye screening and donation of glasses. We also gave worm expellant, distributed mosquito nets to nursing mothers and expectant mothers and also connected water and electricity to that clinic because it had no water and electricity prior to that time in August, " she added.

According to her, the Club in collaboration with two other clubs in  Karu Housing estate and Gwarinpa Newage also donated two motarised waste bins to two schools ( Rahinna Secondary School and Government Model School,  all in Jikwoyi in line with  the environment, water and sanitation agenda of the Rotary International. 

This is in addition to the payment of hospital bills of some indigent patients receiving treatment in various hospitals in Abuja. 

Among other projects executed by the club last year are the donation of tricycle to 160  polio survivors in Abuja out of which 10 were from Kubwa district in collaboration with other 16 Rotary clubs in Abuja .

Some of the equipment donated to the primary health centre in Kungabukon by the Rotary Club of Kubwa recently.

 She said the Rotary Club of Kubwa will not relent in it's quest to support the less privileged as  it has perfected arrangements to offer scholarship to 5 indigent students of Government Secondary School Kubwa.

"Within the first week of March, we will be giving scholarship to 5 students in  government secondary school Kubwa. We will be registering the indigent students for WAEC and NECO. We have already concluded arrangements with the school so by next week we will pick a date to  present the check to the school."

"We are also planning a community economic development program and micro credit for our adopted community, Kungabukon. We want to empower them so that they will be able to support the projects we have executed in their community. We will train them on Izal making,  liquid soap, air freshener, tie and dye and on menstrual hygiene for women, we are going to train them on how to produce reusuable sanitary pad and empower them with start-up capital. We also plan to renovate the LEA primary school in the community, build a four room toilet and drill a borehole for the school before the end of 2021," she added.

Earlier at the event, the President of Rotary Club of Wuse Central, Rotn Gabriel Nkup Tsenye said rather than allow the freed inmates to languish in jail, which will not be helpful to them, "we felt that they require rehabilitation to be able to go back home, reintegrate into the society."

Tsenyen also advised the freed inmates to be responsible citizens, by staying away from the crime that brought them to prison.

Also speaking, the Assistant Controller of Suleja Custodial Center, Musa Abdulrahman thanked the Rotary Clubs for the gesture and intervention. 

He cautioned the freed inmates to go and be useful to themselves and the society.

“Make sure you don’t go out and commit out there again. If you do, we will not introduce you to any help. Go and be useful to yourselves. If you misbehave, you will return and serve your sentences,” he said.