GRANTED that women, like men, will sometimes commit crimes that attract imprisonment as penalties, it is inherently wrong to keep children in prisons merely because their mothers are in jail. Reports of children being kept in prisons with their mothers are therefore unacceptable. Governments, in collaboration with prison authorities, should embark on an urgent reform to correct this anomaly that is out of congruence with modern correctional practice.Children should never be punished for crimes committed by their mothers anywhere, not the least in a country like Nigeria where a prison sentence of only a few days is like a death sentence. Nigerian prisons are grossly over-crowded. The food is poor and inadequate, to the extent that high profile prisoners arrange for their own food. Sanitation conditions are grisly. It recently came to public knowledge that the United Kingdom Government is building prisons in some countries, including Nigeria, to hold prisoners deported from the UK to serve their sentences in their home countries. This is because of the dreadful and inhuman conditions of existing prisons. In a way, the proposed action only substantiates the findings of some journalists and human rights advocates about prisons in the country since the mid-1980s. The existence of children in prisons with their mothers is the hidden scandal of the Nigerian prison system, as bad as the violation of the rights of convicted criminals by keeping them in inhuman conditions. Locking up innocent children in prison amounts to sentencing them to deprivation and ill-health; and possibly a lifetime of social stigma and psychological torture.It should be worrisome to prison authorities as to when and how the women concerned become pregnant. Is it before or after their imprisonment' If it is before, there ought to be close monitoring not just to ensure their safe delivery but also to safeguard the babies from the adverse conditions of the prisons. It would appear that this is not being done. If the women become pregnant in prison, it perhaps indicates some lapses in the prison system for which some officials should be held accountable.It is shocking that the prison system has not developed a humane policy of handling cases of women giving birth in prisons. Having births in prison hospitals, which lack the requisite trained personnel and equipment, is demeaning of life. Are there provisions made to feed the infants nutritiously'Ordinarily, children should be brought up under their mothers. But when the mothers are prisoners, it is not normal for the children to be kept as prisoners too in the absence of decent provisions for the children's needs' Particularly heart-rending is that many of the women are not hardened criminals but people awaiting trial for crimes they may never even be sentenced for. An inmate was being held for engaging in a scuffle with a woman who died three weeks later. Other women are held in lieu of their husbands who have committed crimes and absconded. These indicate that many of the detentions or imprisonments are far from being lawful. Is there no official policy on cases of women having children in prison' What childhood memories can a child raised in prison amongst criminals have and share' Will it be far-fetched if such a child grows up to be psychologically traumatised, harbouring a part of himself or herself that can never be shared' Can the experience not lead to a life of social deviance and crime'Various options should be explored to resolve this unpleasant situation. How are other countries handling similar cases' It is unacceptable to pretend that nothing is wrong. The Ministry of Interior and its components ' the police, prison authorities and perhaps the Judiciary should have important roles to play over the sad incidence of child prisoners. While the unfair case of people staying in detention beyond their eventual sentence is not gender-specific, pregnant women should receive special treatment. Such women should be granted speedy trial or asked to report at intervals to a police station. Pregnant women awaiting trial should no longer be held in prison, especially after the sixth month of pregnancy when their condition requires great care. In the rare case that a pregnant woman is considered a danger to others in the society or where her freedom may jeopardise successful prosecution of a critical case, such women should be kept in suitable accommodation.The Chief Justice of Nigeria should immediately institute a review to compile cases of awaiting-trial pregnant women and nursing mothers and find the means to remove them within a short time. It should also set up a monitoring system to ensure that new cases do not develop, while also paying regular visit to the prisons.Trial and conviction of pregnant women for crimes require commitment to be humane and reasonable. The Ministry of Interior should invest in apartments for pregnant women and nursing mothers, especially for less serious offences.The objective of jailing convicts is to make them remorseful and dissuade them from committing the offence again. Many prison systems fall short of this ideal. The Nigerian prison system barely pretends to be correctional while it dehumanises inmates. Addressing the plight of children in prison should be an urgent issue.
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