Beg for private sector support to enhance reformation programme

By Jimitota Onoyume, Assistant News Editor, Port Harcourt

They were 74 in number and are inmates at the Elele Prisons Farm Centre in Ikwerre Local Government Area,  Rivers State. But they were not in their cells of confinement when Vanguard Features visited. Instead they were taking turns working at a farm.

The size of the farm is  about 1, 850  hectares. The prisoners-turned farmers  were friendly. They carried on as though they were working for themselves. Occasionally you saw some exchanging  banters with the Warders supervising their activities. Except for the    prison  uniforms some wore, you  hardly knew they were convicts because they had little or no restriction in the large farm land cutting across four communities in the area. Some of the inmates were in mufti.

The few warders supervising their activities were not armed. The Farm Manager and Assistant Controller of Prisons,  Mr  Imokhuale Imohbio said overtime the inmates had become their friends . “ We are like their guardians here. They relate with us like friends, “ he said,

One of the prisoners said he had little knowledge of how to cultivate  maize  before he was convicted which he never nurtured until he found himself at the farm centre. Pointing at some boundaries in the large farm, he said: “ Oga  I planted all this. I hope to carry on with mechanised farming when I leave here”.

*Prisoners at the Elele farm planting maize

We lack equipment in the farm: The inmates complained about lack of modern farming equipment for the job. They also enjoined the private sector to support government make the essence of rehabilitation and reintegration for which the farm centre was set up realistic.

One of them who said he had learnt how to plough with tractor said there was only one functional at the centre. “ When I finish my service here I will drive tractors for big time farmers. This is a skill I have acquired here, “ he said.

The inmates believe that if serious attention is given to the farm centre most of them will leave the place reformed and with the mindset to build their lives around skills  acquired from the centre.

“Big time private investors should visit this place to see what they can assist inmates that want to complete their jail term with to start on their own. Assisting us with farm equipment will not be a bad idea,” one of them said.

There is also an palm oil processing unit at the farm. One of the inmates narrated to Vanguard Features how they extracted oil from palm nuts harvested at the farm.

We made N1.3 million last year: The Farm Manager, ACP, Imohbio told the VM that they generated N1.3 million from the farm’s produce which they plouged into the federation account.

“Last year there was no substantial provision for the farm. But we have continued to carry on. I am in charge of managing the farm. In summary, I generated N1.3 million last year. No  substantial allocation came to the farm last year too. I believe in quick yielding crops like maize. So we do more of maize and vegetables,” he said.

Public Relations Officer of Nigerian Prisons, DCP,    Enobore Francis  said part of the challenge they have is that most of those in prisons round the country were on awaiting trial. He said if  timely convictions could be secured more inmates will benefit from the training programe at the farm centre.

He also corroborated the need for private sector  investment in the reformative drive. “ The profit in it is that we will all get a safer society. They should come and donate relevant tools to aid our integration back to society for the prisoners,” he said.

Food basket of the nation

Continuing,  he said the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, donated the functional tractor still in use at the farm, stressing that the farm has capacity to contribute to the food basket of the nation.

He said the place has trained thousands of inmates who were now farm managers at various large farms in the country. He said the Elele Farm Centre was among ten farm centres established round the country in 1976 to provide prisoners with skills in modern farming,

The Prisons spokesman also said the borderless prison cells in the place were built for 200 inmates but in the past two decades they have only had between 70 to 100 inmates, adding that  most of those in prisons all over the country were yet to be convicted.

“Provision to accommodate 200 inmates was made at inception but in the past two decades, the population has hardly gone above 100 largely due shortage of convicted prisoners for deployment to the farm,”.

Convicted criminals

There were just 74 prisoners at the time of visit. He also explained that  only males with few months left of their prison terms come to  the borderless cells.“Those you see here are convicted criminals, those having less than six months to completion of their prison terms, those  not convicted for violent crime. We only have males here,” he said

The prisons spokesman said it will be fine if they were allowed to plough back some part of the proceeds from the farm to the place to sustain activities there before allocation comes annually since farming is seasonal.

“So what we want is how to get an arrangement that will enable the prison service pay part of what has  been generated to the federal purse and plough back the other for production,” he said. 

Case for security towers, walkie talkies for PH prisons

Meantime a highly placed officer who did not want  his name in print said the state government should assist the Rivers State command of the Nigerian Prison Services with  walkie talkies to aide their operations.

He also said the state government can also help to build about six security towers round the walls of the prisons to enable warders position strategically round the place.  “This way we can guard against jail breaks effectively. The walkie-talkies will also help communications among warders in and out of the prisons,“ the source said.