The Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS) has reshuffled its high-ranking officials in what sources say is to stem the tide of jailbreaks across the country.
The top officials have been asked to vacate their current positions for what is seen as lesser roles due to what insiders say is their failure to prevent jail attacks.
The Deputy Comptroller General of Corrections (DCG) in charge of operations, Ahmed Tukur, and the Deputy Comptroller of Corrections (DCC), Head of Intelligence and Investigations, Nkechi Nwanebo, have been asked to quit their roles and have been redeployed.
According to an internal memo the two senior officials will henceforth take up positions of Non-Custodial Measures (NCM) Directorate and the Operations Service (OPS) Directorate respectively.
Also, Aminu Yusuf, who was in charge of the Armed Squad Unit (ASU) of the correctional service, has been moved to the Medium Security Custodial Centre (MSCC), Bauchi, to assume a position that our sources say is “less demanding and degrading.”
According to the memo, the Controller-General of Corrections, Haliru Nababa, has ordered all affected officers to conclude the processes of handing and taking over before next Friday, urging them to “ensure strict compliance”.
In May 2021, the Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola, decorated Mr Tukur and Mr Nwanebo after they were both promoted to the position of Deputy Controller General of the correctional service.
Mr Aregbesola, during the decoration, said the officers were installed at a period the country was facing a major national security crisis.
“The Ministry of Interior is always on the mouth of commentators and analysts when the security situation in the country is being mentioned. This is to let you know the great expectations people have of you,” he told reporters in Abuja. “We have been in the throes of bandits, insurgents and other baddies, draining resources and psychic energy. Our agencies must rise to the plate.”ⓘ
He warned the newly decorated correctional officers that “criminals will keep getting more sophisticated in order to be ahead of you; but in order to beat them, you have to be ahead of their game at all times”.
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