4,000 Inmates To Be Freed From Custodial Centres ‐ Interior Minister

• Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, announces plans to release over 4,000 inmates as part of the ministry’s decongestion program
• The minister states that all passport backlogs have been printed and urges Nigerians to collect them at passport offices

Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, Minister of Interior, has stated that over 4,000 inmates in various custodial facilities nationwide will be released as part of the ministry’s decongestion program.

Tunji-Ojo made the remarks on Channels TV’s Politics Today on Wednesday.

He said;

I am a person that deals with figures and data. I plan. We looked at the whole system and found out there were about 4,000 inmates who were unable to pay fines. We are able to separate that. We worked with some agencies and NGOs to sort that out. We are working on that. At least we are able to get 4,000 inmates out of correctional centres.

We have over 77,000 inmates in prisons across the country. More than 80% of the inmates are state offenders. We are working with the state government to sort it out. We have set up a committee to look into this and I assure you we will come up with verifiable steps and release an action plan in due course.

Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo added that all passports backlog have been printed. He said they have cleared 204000 passports backlog since he assumed duty.

I have to apologize to Nigerians that we were unable to fulfill our promise of delivering passports in two weeks. But we have achieved this in three weeks. I am urging Nigerians to go to passport offices to collect their passports. I have given a marching order on this that all passports should be released as soon as possible.

Nigerians should get passports in two weeks — Minister

Bunmi Tunji-Ojo, the Minister of Interior, announced on Tuesday that 55,000 of the 200,000 passport backlog had been cleared.

He added that more would be cleared before the end of the two-week deadline set for the Immigration chief and that Nigerians should be able to obtain passports in two weeks once the backlogs are cleared.

He spoke during a visit to his office in Abuja by the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Dr Betta Edu.

This was stated by Afonja Ajibola, Director of Press at the Ministry of Interior.

He said;

Nigerians must not be relegated from being citizens of Nigeria by denying them a passport.

He reiterated his belief that we must get it right now, adding that he receives updates every morning; and that this very morning, he is been briefed that about 55,000 passports have been cleared, out of the 200,000 passports backlog he instructed to be cleared in two weeks.

He then assured that by the time the backlogs are cleared, Nigerians will start enjoying the efficient service of having their passports issued within two weeks upon application.