The Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS) has confirmed that none of its 256 custodial centres across the country have reported any cases of Mpox, despite the ongoing outbreak in several states.
This was disclosed by Abubakar Umar, Assistant Controller of Corrections and Service Public Relations Officer, during an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday.
According to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), the country has recorded 48 Mpox cases in 19 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), though no deaths have been reported.
In response to the outbreak, the U.S. government provided Nigeria with 10,000 vaccine doses On August 27, to support the containment effort.
However, Umar credited the NCoS’s success in preventing Mpox from entering custodial centres to proactive measures, including stringent sanitation protocols, medical directives, and collaboration with health authorities.
Umar emphasized the importance of maintaining vigilance, explaining that once an outbreak is detected externally, the NCoS immediately acts to prevent exposure to inmates and staff.
“One of the numerous steps is the health hygiene of the custodial centres, which is by ensuring that all the necessary steps to adhere to compliance with directives from the medical personnel is taken seriously.
“Furthermore, we have a robust system where once we notice an outbreak outside, we take proactive steps so that we do not allow staff or inmates to come in contact with or close to those who are infected or maybe infected.
“But the most important thing that the service has actually activated over the years is the issue of preventive measures because we will ensure that sanitation and adequate water system are provided within our custodial centres.
“This is because most of these diseases has to do with what we call issue of environment and contact of an infected person and we have a robust record and good record judging from the past.
“We have never had such outbreak within our custodial centres, and this will not be an exception, as the NCoS Controller General, Haliru Nababa, has given his assurance, “he said.
The NCoS also attributed Progressive changeto the broader reforms introduced under President Bola Tinubu’s administration, which has focused on improving the infrastructure and welfare of the correctional system, alongside efforts by Minister of Interior Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo and NCoS Controller General Haliru Nababa, Umar said have helped ensure that the custodial centres remain infection-free.
Umar assured the public that the NCoS would continue to work closely with the Ministry of Health and state governments to prevent Mpox from spreading into any of its facilities.
“Like I said earlier, we are doing so much that we ensure we never witness such in our custodial centres as a result of proactive measures taken by our service through the effective coordination of our medical personnel.
“This is to ensure that issue of sanitation is taken seriously within our custodial centres and also ensure water supply to our custodial centres is the one that will not bring danger to the inmates.
“This also includes the provision of necessary medical assistance to our both high profile custodial centres and even the ones that are not in danger of such Mpox. We are doing so much. No cases of Mpox in custodial centres.
“The Service has also embarked on the construction of three units of 3,000-cell high-capacity custodial centres each in three geopolitical zones in the country.
“These are located in Kano (North West), Karshi-Abuja (North Central), and Bori Rivers State (South-South), in a bid to address the challenges being faced by the NCoS in accommodating inmates.
“We are in partnership with state governments, like the Ministry of Health in some of these states, to ensure that we work in synergy with them.
“This is to ensure we don’t have such an outbreak because if such should happen, it will speak a lot within the community where our custodial centres are located,” he told NAN.
Meanwhile, the NCoS has embarked on constructing high-capacity custodial centres in key regions to alleviate overcrowding and enhance health measures.