Criminals Convicted In Abuja Courts Are Now Being Sent To Prisons In Niger State — FCT Minister

The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Mohammed Bello, on Thursday in Abuja, said anyone who requests bail for arrested criminals only to release them back into the society should be apprehended.

This is as he lamented the overflowing capacity of the three major correctional facilities serving the FCT.

Bello made the call when fielding questions from journalists at the 40th session of the State House Ministerial Briefing organised by the Presidential Communications Team.

The call came on the heels of reports that hoodlums arrested for various crimes were being released through the intervention of highly placed Nigerians who use them as foot soldiers for heinous crimes.

He appealed to Abuja residents to expose those involved in freeing these hoodlums by reporting them to the authorities.

Mohammed, however, lamented that the FCT criminal justice system is fraught with several challenges, especially because its three correctional facilities are now filled and cannot accommodate more detainees.

To address this, he said criminals convicted in Abuja courts are now being sent to Suleja, Niger State even as the FCTA is working on a “bolster centre” to accommodate juvenile convicts.