Former CJ Makes Case for Children of Inmates

By Mosope Kehinde

For the country to curb cases of criminality and reduce social vices, society has a duty to watch over vulnerable children, especially the children of inmates currently serving jail terms.

Former Chief Judge of Oyo State, retired Justice Badejoko Adeniji, made this known in Ibadan while speaking during a three-day boot camp organized by the Prisons Fellowship of Nigeria for over thirty children of inmates in Oyo State.

Retired Justice Adeniji, who explained that inmates’ children are vulnerable and likely to have criminal tendencies because of their background and upbringing, said it was important for well-to-do individuals or organizations to provide basic supports for them.

Also speaking, the Catholic Archbishop of Ibadan Arch-Diocese, Archbishop Gabriel Abegunrin stressed the need for Nigerians to invest in children whose either parents are serving jail terms, urging philanthropists to provide educational and psychological support to the children.

Reacting, the project coordinator, Reverend Kayode Oluyombo said the purpose of the free boot camp for the children who were between the ages of ten and eighteen was to allow them to feel a sense of belonging during the holiday.

Reverend Oluyombo, who said the project was organized simultaneously across 19 states in the country, noted that the children were selected from all the zones in Oyo State under the “Promise Path Project,” irrespective of religious affiliations.

Earlier in a welcome address, the chairman, Oyo State Prisons Fellowship of Nigeria, Prophet Boyede Sule identified the need for the government to do more to reduce the number of out-of-school children in Nigeria.

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