No fewer than nine inmates of Ilaro Prisons, Ogun State, passed last year’s National Examination Council, NECO, examination.
Assistant Controller of Prisons, Ilaro, Bamidele Oshin, disclosed this on Thursday when Skynet Rescue Corps paid him a courtesy visit in his office.
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Oshin said, although about 19 inmates sat for the examinations, of the 11 whose results released by the examination body, only nine candidates have the six mandatory credits, including English and Mathematics.
He explained that 12 of the inmates, who had cleared their papers, would be enrolled at the National Open University of Nigeria, NOUN, for their first degree.
He said: “The determination and resilience of our Controller-General, who believes in the total reformation of our officers led to these successes recorded by our inmates in the last NECO examinations.
“The difference between our candidates and other candidates outside there was that our candidates have little time to play. From morning till evening, they are busy studying. So the quantum of time they devoted to reading resulted positively.”
“From our discussion, we have a moratorium agreement with the National Open University, NOUN. It is tuition-free for our inmates from 100 level to Ph.D. level. We have several other inmates in our other prisons doing their Master’s degree and two of them in Kirirkiri doing their Ph.D.
“The National Open University had given us a centre here, which we are trying to process the admission, I’m very sure before the first half of the year, we will have 15 of them admitted into the University.
“The beauty of it is that even when the inmates are discharged, they are free to come here and write their tutor-marked assignment as well as write their exams free of charge.”
Speaking on the challenges of over-population of prisons by inmates awaiting trials, Oshin called on the state judiciary to speed up trial.
He said: “Sometime last month, the state Chief Judge was here to do jail delivery, but I want to appeal to state judiciary to expedite actions on the various cases.
“We have inmates whose cases are awaiting Department of Public Prosecution’s advice for the last three years and unfortunately, the Chief Judge could not go beyond her power until the DPP’s advice comes out.”
Meanwhile, the Skynet Rescue Corps donated toothbrushes, toothpaste, beverages, toilet soaps, detergents as parts of activities heralding the two years anniversary of the Corps.
Presenting the items, Chaplain of the Rescue Corps, Dr. Adeyeye Adedigba assured the readiness of the Corps to provide rescue assistance to the inmates awaiting trials through the provision of legal services.
