Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) Abubakar Malami and the Chief Judge of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Justice Ishaq Bello, have said prevalence of illegal detention homes is the result of the failure to have legal alternatives.
They blamed government at all levels for not providing standardised and efficient care centres where people with mental health or related challenges could be attended to.
The law professionals called for measures to address the problem.
The noted that the current effort at dislodging unlawful detention centres will not produce lasting results, if there were no concrete measures to evolve necessary policies and provide requisite facilities to cater for the people affected.
Malami and Bello spoke on Tuesday in Abuja on plans by the Federal Ministry of Justice, the Presidential Committee on Prisons Reform and Decongestion (headed by Bello) and the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCS) to jointly host a three-day strategic workshop later this month, called: Towards Effective Implementation of the Correctional Service Act, 2019.
Bello described the discovery of illegal detention centres across the country as a child of necessity.
The judge noted that parents of the victims see a ready option in sending their sick family members to such centres, where no standard alternatives exist.
He added: “The parents will rather send their children to these centres rather than leave them at home. Most of these young victims are on hard drugs. So, for the parents, taking them there (the centres) was a solace, believing that at the end of the day, they will attain some level of sobriety.
“It is a child of necessity. But now that there is a reawakening and people are seeing them as unlawful detention centres or rehabilitation centres, I hope the governments of the respective states will rise to the occasion and put in place standard rehabilitation centres in order to eliminate these illegal centres.”
Malami stressed that the only way to tackle illegal rehabilitation or detention centres was for governments and their agencies to have policies and legal framework as well as provide the requisite facilities.
“So, if we are to make any meaningful headway in that respect and effect the needed change, perhaps the chairman (Bello) may consider making it as an item in the agenda of the up-coming workshop so that it can be adequately considered, digested and addressed accordingly with a view to looking at the possibility of what legal framework can be provided, what facilities and policies can be put in place,” Malami said.
