JONATHAN'S VISIT: ONI SEEKS EARLY COMPLETION OF PRISON

Ekiti State Governor Segun Oni has urged the Nigerian Prison Service to complete the new prison complex on Afao Road, Ado-Ekiti before the end of the month in order to include it among projects to be inaugurated by Acting President Goodluck Jonanthan during his proposed visit to the state.

The governor, according to a statement made available to our correspondent in Ado-Ekiti on Wednesday, said this during a visit of the new state Comptroller of Prisons, Mrs. Patricia Omene, to him in his office.

He said, 'The 132/32 KV substation in Ado-Ekiti and over a dozen projects executed by the state government are slated for inauguration during the Acting President's visit. We want the prison to be inaugurated too when the Acting President visits the state.'

The governor said that all major structures in the new prison project, including the security perimetre fencing, had been substantially completed, adding that work on the only strategic building that was yet to be completed in the complex could be completed within some weeks.

Oni noted that the new prison yard was a conducive environment, which would allow the prison to effectively perform its primary roles of reformation and rehabilitation of inmates.

He said that his administration intended to open the 81-year-old prison to members of the public for some weeks as part of efforts to promote history and tourism as well as deterring potential offenders.

He stated that his administration had in 2008 released a six-bedroom duplex and 20 units of 2-bedroom flats in Ado-Ekiti as well as a large parcel of land to prison authorities to facilitate the speedy movement of the old Ado prisons to the new site.

He, however, lamented that the relocation was dragging for too long.

While noting that his administration had fulfilled its part of the agreement, he urged the NPS to fulfil its own part of the deal by completing the new prison.

He said the old prison was not only constituting an eyesore at its present location but also slowing down the growth of the Central Business District established by the state government.