Nigerians have been advised make concerted efforts to end all forms of discrimination and stigmatisation of former offenders.
The Controller of Corrections, Lagos State Command, Nigeria Correctional Service, Sam Iyakoregha, gave the advice at the weekend in Lagos during a Yellow Ribbon Nigeria Project of the Lagos State chapter’s road walk.
The event programme was organised by Prisoners Rehabilitation and Welfare Action (PRAWA), and supported by other agencies, to sensitise the public on the urgent need to stop stigmatisation of the former convicts.
The Yellow Ribbon Nigeria Project, which stands against stigmatisation of former offenders, supports reformation, rehabilitation and reintegration of former offenders and erstwhile convicts.
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Iyakoregha also called on the government to effect changes in law to ensure that former convicts are not discriminated against in employment and other spheres of the society to make them feel that they have a stake in the country.
Saying that such stigmatisation includes giving offenders bad names, Iyakoregha cited an instance where “a former offender goes to secure accommodation, the landlord terms him a criminal and denies him the accommodation.
“Where else does the landlord want him to stay?,” he queried.
He stated that the correctional service is a government’s institution, with one of its cardinal objectives as enacted in the Correctional Service Act, to reform, rehabilitate and reintegrate offenders in the society.
“If there is discrimination, then the aim of rehabilitation is defeated.
