Date: 2017-04-06

The Kwara State Governor, Abdulfatah Ahmed, says he is making moves to ensure the actualisation of the proposed plans to relocate the prison located at the Oke-kura area of Ilorin, the state capital.

The Senior Special Assistant to the governor on Media and Communations, Muideen Akorede, made this disclosure in a chat with PREMIUM TIMES on Tuesday.

? PREMIUM TIMES gathered that residents of Oke-Kura area in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital, had earlier called for relocation of the prison located in the community to a less congested area.

Reports said some residents of the area, who recalled a recent incident of attempted jail break, lamented that the continuous presence of the facility in the community is dangerous to the safety of residents.

While speking to journalists recently, the President of Ilorin Emirates Descendants Progressive Union (IEDPU), AbdulHameed Adi, noted that the ?area is not safe with the prison there.

"Government should relocate it because if anything happens at the prison, such as a stray bullet, it could affect the residents of the area," he said.

Similarly, the member representing Ilorin East/South Constituency in the House of Representatives, Abubakar Kannike, during an on-the-spot visit to the prison, said "the House will direct the committee on Army to carry out further investigation and to caution the military to interface with the community while discharging their duties.

"I also informed the committee to look into the possibility of decongesting the prison," Mr. Kannike added.

Earlier, Mr. Ahmed had said that the Oke-kura prison was long overdue for relocation, as it was not right for a corrective institution to be situated in such residential area.

Mr. Ahmed, who spoke while receiving members of the House of Representatives Committee on Army led by Sunday Katung, suggested that the government would put a public private partnership deal in place to improve the facility.

"We will see to it that the interior ministry will come out with strong position that will review the current status of the prisons even if it requires the Public Private Partnership (PPP) to improve the corrective institutions," the governor had quipped.

In his reaction, Mr. Katung, the Chairman of the HoR committee who was in Ilorin with his members to assess the prison facility, said the Oke-Kura prison is congested and appealed to Governor Ahmed to relocate the facility.

"The prison was built in 1914 to accommodate 150 inmates but presently about 350 are accommodated there," Mr. Katung noted.

"As stakeholders, we must look at what can be done to improve the present condition of the prisons and inmates."

When contacted Tuesday afternoon, Mr. Akorede told PREMIUM TIMES that the Kwara state governor was perfecting works with other agencies to actualise the successful relocation of the prison.

"Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed is working with relevant stakeholders such as the National Assembly, Ministry of Interior and through National Economic Council to ensure the movement is actualised," he said.