Assessment of Rehabilitation Services in Nigerian Prisons in Edo State

This study investigated rehabilitation services in Nigerian prisons in Edo State of Nigeria. The study was aimed at determining the status of rehabilitation services in Nigerian prisons in Edo State. To address the problem of study, two research questions were raised. The researcher adopted a survey research design. The participants were 147 prison inmates drawn from the six Nigerian prisons of Edo State. The instrument a checklist titled “Rehabilitation Services in Nigerian Prisons in Edo State (RSNPES)” was administered on the participants (prison inmates). The method of data analysis was simple percentage. The study found that: Provision for rehabilitation services is still neglected and not international best practices compliance. Prison inmates of these prisons prefer one rehabilitation service to the other. The most preferred rehabilitation service is recreational activity – football. Based on these findings, it was recommended among others that deliberate efforts should be made by the Federal Government and prison service providers to reform the Nigerian prisons and make it international best practice compliance. There is also the need to introduce more rehabilitation services, facilities and reformative programmes such as training inmates on Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and giving adequate awareness programmes so as to rehabilitate prison inmates and stop recidivism.