President Buhari Soon To Forward Draft Bill To NASS On Review Of Borstal Institutions, Malami

President Muhammadu Buhari soon present a reviewed and draft bill of the Borstal Institutions and Remand Centre Acts 2004 to the National Assembly for enactment into law.

The Attorney general of the Federation, Abubakar Malami dropped the hint while inaugurating the Technical Committee on the review of Borstal Institutions and Remand Centres Act 2004 LFN.

According to Malami, “For the sustainable reformation of the Nigerian Juvenile Justice system, it has now become imperative to review the Nigerian Borstal institute legal framework and bring it up to conformity with the Child Rights Act, 2003, the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015 and the Correctional Services Act, 2019.”

The terms of reference for the 13-member committee headed by Mrs Ugonna Ezekwen are as follows:

To bring the Act in conformity with the Child Rights Act, 2003, the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015 and the Correctional Services Act, 2019;

To produce a draft bill which will repeal the existing act; To bring the Act in conformity with international best practices and rules, treaties and conventions binding Nigeria.

To encourage a regime that promotes effective rehabilitation and reintegration of the students through which the juveniles will be given ‘progressive trust demanding personal decision, responsibility and self-control’; To place emphasis on regular educational and vocational training regimen with a demanding physical training content.

Others are: To ensure that our Borstal Institutions comply with acceptable international and human rights standards; To provide a controlled and standardized way of admitting Children into the Institutions. It should be stated clearly that the Borstal Institute is not a drug rehabilitation centre; and To enable juveniles earn a percentage of the profit made from selling any of their work, eg. Handmade shoes, clothes, furniture etc..