The Nigerian Prisons And The Treatment of Offenders: A Study of Lagos State Prison Formations

Abstract   

The study was designed to investigate the extent to which the Nigerian Prison Service had performed its cardinal objective of treating offenders with special reference to Lagos State Prison Formations. This study looked at the available resources for this purpose. Such resource s include finance, vocational skill training workshops qualified staff, prison facilities and health care delivery facilities, etc. In the investigation, seven research questions and three major hypotheses were used. All the inmates- six hundred and forty-seven (647) in the five prison s that make up the Lagos State prison formations were chosen and questionnaires administered to them. In order to get the views of the staff of Lagos State Prison Formations, a sample of one hundred (lOO) respondents were selected through the simple random sampling and questionnaires administered to them. While all the one hundred (100) questionnaires administered to the prisons staff were returned, only three hundred and sixty (360) questionnaires out of the six hundred and forty-seven (647) administered to the prison inmates were returned. Also, in-depth interviews were conducted with the Chief Welfare Officers and the Officers In-charge of the five prisons that make up the Lagos State Prison Formations. The outcome of our investigation, however, showed that inmates of Lago s State Prison Formations. are not properly treated because of inadequate prison facilities and poor funding from the government. The study recommends that for effective treatment of inmates to take place, the prison authority, members of the public, the government and the non-government.