The Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS) has dismissed a media report describing its custodial facilities as hotbeds for tuberculosis (TB), describing the claims as misleading and unsupported by verified data.
In a statement issued on Sunday in Abuja, the Service’s National Spokesperson, Jane Osuji, said the report published in a national daily wrongly suggested widespread TB infections across correctional centres.
Osuji explained that contrary to the report’s claims, the NCoS operates health clinics in custodial facilities nationwide and works closely with the National Tuberculosis, Leprosy and Buruli Ulcer Control Programme (NTBLCP), federal and state ministries of health, as well as non-governmental organisations and development partners.
She noted that tuberculosis remains a global public health challenge affecting both custodial and non-custodial populations. According to her, Nigeria’s TB response is coordinated by the Federal Ministry of Health through the NTBLCP, in line with World Health Organization guidelines, with the NCoS playing an active role in prevention, detection and treatment.
“The Nigerian Correctional Service treats TB prevention, detection and treatment with the seriousness it deserves,” the statement said, adding that routine screening, laboratory diagnosis, treatment initiation, adherence monitoring and referrals to higher health institutions are carried out where necessary.
Osuji said inmates diagnosed with TB are promptly placed on nationally approved treatment regimens at no cost, stressing that claims portraying custodial centres as tuberculosis “hotbeds” are not supported by NCoS records.
She further stated that names and cases cited in the report do not exist in the Service’s records, describing the publication as a departure from responsible journalism, which requires accuracy, balance and reliance on verified, facility-specific data.
According to the statement, healthcare management in custodial centres includes medical screening upon admission, periodic health assessments, infection prevention and control measures, isolation of infectious cases when required and structured referral systems to external hospitals.
While acknowledging challenges such as ageing infrastructure and rising inmate populations, Osuji said these issues reflect broader systemic challenges within the national health and justice sectors and do not amount to neglect of inmate welfare.
The Service also highlighted its experience during the COVID-19 pandemic, noting that proactive screening, isolation protocols and inter-agency collaboration helped prevent the spread of the virus within custodial centres nationwide, with no recorded active cases.
Osuji acknowledged congestion in some urban custodial facilities but said the NCoS remains committed to decongestion through jail delivery exercises, collaboration with the judiciary and the expansion of non-custodial measures as provided under the Nigerian Correctional Service Act.
She reaffirmed the Service’s commitment to safeguarding the health, dignity and human rights of all persons in custody, stressing that custodial health is inseparable from public health.
While remaining open to constructive criticism and informed public discourse, the NCoS rejected what it described as misleading and alarmist reports aimed at misinforming the public or portraying the Service unfairly.
“The Nigerian Correctional Service will continue to strengthen partnerships, improve healthcare delivery and pursue reforms that promote humane custody, rehabilitation and reintegration in line with national laws and international best practices,” the statement added.
