The Prisoners Rehabilitation and Welfare Action (PRAWA) has trained Nigerian Correctional Service (NCS) officers on non-custodial measures in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), on guidelines for the supervision of offenders Serving Non-Custodial Sentence and punishment of violators during the COVID-19 lockdown.

This was contained in a statement issued on Tuesday by its Deputy Director, Ogechi Ogu.

According to the statement, PRAWA presented an overview of the newly developed Manual for non-custodial correctional officers on the supervision of offenders during COVID 19 Pandemic.

Some of the 13-guideline sections which the officers were trained on arethe underlying Principles & Rationality of Punishing Criminal Violations During COVID-19 Lockdown Restrictions; Safety, Protection and Compliance with Health Protocols in Correctional Officers Workspaces.

Others are recommending sanctions for COVID-19 violations and other criminal infractions, preparing pre-sentencing report for courts; supervision of offenders serving non-custodial sentenced and progress report for offenders serving non-custodial sentences.

The training which was supported by the European Union, British Council and Rule of Law and Anti-Corruption RoLAC, had in attendance 38 participants including a representative of ROLAC, Dr. Oluwatoyin Badejogbin, Component Manager (ROLAC) Program, Vivian Geiram; a former Director of the Irish Probation Service, Mr. Clement Job Okech, Assistant Director of Kenya Probation and Aftercare Service, Senior officers of the Nigerian Correctional Service and the Non-Custodial Officers currently piloting the implementation of Non-Custodial Measures in the FCT.

The main lecturer for the day, PRAWA Executive Director Uju Agomoh, presented an overview of the newly developed Manual for Non-custodial Correctional Officers on the supervision of offenders during COVID 19 Pandemic.

Opportunity was given to Correctional Experts from the Republic of Ireland and Kenya to share their experiences and knowledge on the subject matter with the participants.

The Deputy Controller Corrections FCT, Elizabeth Ezenwanne, in her opening remarks thanked the Controller General of Nigerian Correctional Service Ja’afaru Ahmed for his vision and support to the Non-Custodial Service.

The statement notes that similar virtual training were carried out for Abia State Non-Custodial Correctional Officers on April 28, 2020 and earlier in May for 50 Magistrates of the state judiciary.