Nigeria opens second female prison

The development follows ongoing restructuring of prison services that included gender sensitivity.

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What you need to know:

  • The Numan old prison in Adamawa is now the second female prison with a total capacity of 400 inmates.

The Nigerian government on Wednesday said it has established a second all-female prison in the country at Numan in northeast state of Adamawa.

The development followed the ongoing restructuring of prison services that included gender sensitivity, Peter Tenkwa, the Controller of Nigerian Prison Services (NPS) in Adamawa, told reporters in Yola, the state capital.

The Numan old prison in Adamawa is now the second female prison with a total capacity of 400 inmates, but presently has six inmates, Tenkwa said.  

He said when he was appointed in June 2016 as controller of prisons, seven out of 17 prison yards in the state were destroyed by Boko Haram insurgents.

According to him, with the collaboration of the state government, the prison department was able to renovate Mubi, Maiha and Ganye prisons.

Tenkwa said presently, Mubi Maiha and Ganye prisons have a total of 184, 43 and 145 inmates respectively.