No record of COVID-19 in our correctional facilities — Aregbesola

The Minister of Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, has said that there was no record of any COVID-19 case in any of the 244 correctional facilities across the country.

Aregbesola disclosed this at the Presidential Taskforce on COVID-19 daily press briefing on Thursday in Abuja.

He said that its officers at the correctional centres followed the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) protocol strictly.

The minister said that the ministry had stopped any form of intake into the correctional centres.

Aregbesola said that the Federal Government had also helped by decongesting the correctional centres with the recent pardon granted to some prisoners by President Muhammadu Buhari.

He, however, attributed non record of Coronavirus case in any of the correctional centres to diligence on the part of its officers.

The minister said that officials at the correctional centres had maintained a crisis free regime in spite of the tough situation occasioned by COVID-19 pandemic.

Aregbesola said that this was made possible through strict adherence to protocol as established by the NCDC.

He commended the Attorney General for the Federation and the Chief Justice of Nigeria for their support.

The minister said the combined taskforce of security agencies were on patrol of Nigeria and Cameron borders to forestall the coming of both legal and illegal people into the country.

He also commended the governors of Borno, Taraba, Cross Rivers, Benue, among others, for ensuring the prevention of people who could compromise the country’s border.

“The effort we are making as PTF is to ensure that even after this COVID-19, we will look at how we have changed our attitude and a new social economic and spiritual order will emerge,” Aregbesola said.