The Senate Wednesday summoned the
comptroller General of Prisons, Mr Ahmed Ja’afaru to explain the allegations of
unwanted pregnancies and teenage confinement in prisons.
There are recent allegations of
unwanted pregnancies and delivery of babies without legitimate parents across
the prisons yards in the country.
Consequently, the upper chamber
has also mandated its committee on interior to carry out discrete investigations
on the matter.
This resolution followed a motion
sponsored by Senator Victor Umeh representing Anambra Central senatorial
district titled, “Illegal confinement of underage offenders / infants in the
same Prison with adult prisoners.”
On his lead debate, Umeh said he
was traumatized by the gory pictures of underage children languishing in
various prisons.
He further explained that female
prisoners give birth while in prison custody without adequate provisions and
arrangements for the care and development of such children.
The lawmaker lamented that due to
insensitivity and dereliction of duty, the Police prosecutors encourage these
underage offenders to manipulate their ages during arraignments in courts in
the false hope that they would later be released.
Umeh emphasized that the
teenagers even opt to be in courts without any legal representation and based
on the ill-advice by some over-zealous prosecutors, unaware of the dire
consequences.
The lawmaker said keeping infants
with their mothers under awaiting trials have numerous consequences ranging
from lack of proper upbringing, health hazards and psychological damage to the
larger society.
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