The Economic and financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, says it has concluded plans to roll out programmes aimed at rehabilitating ex-convicts, most of whom are youths that have been convicted for internet fraud related offences.
EFCC’s Executive Chairman, Mr. Abdulrasheed Bawa, gave the hint on Thursday, 24th November, 2022 during a courtesy visit by officials of the Citizenship and Leadership Training Centre (CLTC), led by its Director-General, Soji Eniade, at the EFCC headquarters, Abuja.
TheFact Daily notes the somewhat erroneous assumption that families are prepared for the release from custody of their incarcerated member. While the family may be longing to see ex-convict, it may be truamatised by his or her release from prison.
Thinking about the known and anticipated behaviour of the ex-convict may affect the acceptance and support needed by the ex-convict. This may complicate relationship problems and may perpetuate the negative labelling which affects positive integration.
The unpreparedness of families and communities may be more hostile than being in prison, leaving the ex-convict with no choice but to re-offend and be reconvicted and at most, a recidivist.
According to Bawa, the desire to partner with the relevant organisations to rehabilitate ex-convicts was to allow them separate themselves from the psychological and environmental factors that made them commit crime in the first place.
“I am worried, very concerned for the future of the youths of this country. I honestly do not derive joy in the arrest, investigation and prosecution of the thousands of youths who are supposed to be in their productive ages; but the job must be done.
We must concertedly cleanse the system of all forms of economic and financial crimes. In doing that, we must also think of how to rehabilitate and bring the ex-convicts back to the society, hence the collaboration”, he said.
Bawa intimated that the rehabilitation process would involve psychological approaches to morality and cognitive sanity as well as general education such as literacy skills and work training, adding that the goal was to re-integrate offenders back into society after serving their time in prison.
The CLTC Director-General, Eniade, described the objective of the visit as creating a synergy to advance frontiers for the restoration of confidence in national unity and attitudinal change particularly among youths and young officers on the impact of individual actions on nation building and the corporate image of the country.
He described the importance of the rehabilitation programme as proposed by the EFCC, as top-notch, and emphasized the importance of reeducating and retraining those who commit crime to discourage them from further engaging in the same or in any other crime.
