The Borstal Institution in Enugu, established by the colonial authorities in 1932 to provide correction, training and rehabilitation for children in conflict with the law, is to be rehabilitated following the approval of funding by the Governor of Enugu State, Barrister Dr. Peter Mbah.
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The facility, the oldest of four such institutions in the country, has lain neglected for decades and is presently incapable of receiving a single inmate.
“This is a reformatory place, but it has been neglected for years,” an official said during a tour of the facility by journalists. “In this Nigeria, we have four institutions. This place is the first one, established since 1932, followed by Kaduna in 1962, Abeokuta in 1984 and Ilorin in 2006. The three are functional. It is only here. I don’t know why it is like that.”
The Controller of Corrections and Principal of the training institute commended the governor for approving the rehabilitation, while pointing out that the condition of the premises rules out any admission at present.
“In its current state, it is just impossible to have any inmate admitted there,” the principal said.
Expressing confidence that the approval would be followed through, the principal said: “He is a man of integrity. He is a man of lion heart. I know that he will do something, since he has voiced it out and has given that approval. He must do something. I believe him. I believe in him, because he has been doing a lot of things for the state. So this time around he cannot be left behind.”
The principal traced the closure of the institution to the period following the civil war, and credited a sustained campaign for bringing it back to official attention.
“Since after the war, this facility has not been working, and we have been advocating. I thank God, and I thank the Enugu State Justice Reform Team, who have joined our campaign in making sure that we draw the attention of the government to this facility.”
“And today we thank God that the Governor of Enugu State, Barrister Dr. Peter Mbah, has approved the funding to rehabilitate this facility. So to us it is a very big achievement, and we thank the governor for approving the fund.”
The facilitator of the Enugu State Justice Reform Team, Hon. Justina Anayo Offiah, SAN, a former Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice of Enugu State from 1994 to 1997, said the planned revival of the centre could not have come at a better time. She stressed the importance of effective correction and rehabilitation for children in conflict with the law, warning that children who go astray without proper guidance and intervention could later become involved in serious criminal or other harmful conduct.
“Who are these people that are criminals now? They are probably people that went astray when they were children and were not properly guided or directed,” the facilitator said.
“They become robbers. They become kidnappers. They become all manner of things. They become bad business people. They become bad academics. They become bad politicians. But if we have a correctional centre that prepares the children in the way that it should be done in this borstal home, it is all to our benefit.”
The institute, when fully restored, will provide a structured environment in which children in conflict with the law can receive correction, education and skills for reintegration into society.
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