A humanitarian organization, Gift Heath Plus Foundation, has given medical items to inmates at the Owerri Correctional Center on Thursday to help the prisoners boost their health and live healthy even when they are freed and reintegrated into the society.
The items were drugs, personal hygiene kits, cartons of soap, cartons of tooth paste among others too numerous to mention.
In an interview with journalists shortly after distributing the items to the prisons authority, founder and executive director of Gift Plus Health Foundation, Chamberlain Nwanne, disclosed that the NGO deemed it feat to donate the items to prison inmates to help them boost their health, so that when they are freed and reintegrated into the society their health will not detoriate because many inmates do not get adequate healthcare services given to government neglect and lack of funding.
Nwanne stressed that the feat is to “help instill dignity in the prisons inmates. The prisons system should act as a more rehabilitation center (hope) for the helpless citizens. Government should take full responsibility of its prisoners. Let government treat those it incarcerated and see them as human beings and should not shy away from ensuring the good health of those in jail. The NGO which is a non-profit organization, partners with a US based foundation which is specialized in helping people in dire need having started about seven years ago, doing medical treatment free two times in a year. We signed partnership with the Nigeria Human Rights Commission and this is the first time we are given out medication to prisons inmatesin Imo State”.
Commending Gift Health Plus Foundation for its humanitarian services, the executive secretary, Human Rights Commission, Tony Ojukwu, who was represented by Ukachi Ukah, state coordinator of Human Rights Commission, advised people to speak out against injustice, intimidation and abuse of their rights, urging government to continue to meet health needs of the prisoners, as well as stops killing, maiming and arresting innocent people, warning that the indiscriminate arrest of citizens decongests the prison yard which weakens prisoners’ health.
Receiving the items, Deputy Controller of Correctional Center, Oduntan Seye Olukoya, appreciated the donor for remembering the prisoners, saying efforts have been geared by the prisons services to care for prisoners and reintegrate them with the society.