Tinubu Government Reveals Secret Behind Zero Jailbreak Successes

(Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo. Photo by Nation News)

Interior Minister Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo has attributed the absence of any successful jailbreak under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration to the deployment of advanced technologies and a data-driven ecosystem within custodial facilities.

He made this known at the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime Regional Conference on Prisoner Classification and the Use of Technology in Prison Settings in Africa, held in Abuja.

The minister explained that government reforms have driven investments in digital transformation, better data management and closer collaboration among security agencies.

He noted that the digitisation of inmate records, including biometric data and photographs, has considerably strengthened Nigeria’s capacity to respond promptly to security threats and monitor offenders.

“This is the power of technology,” he said, while cautioning that technology alone was not sufficient.

He stressed that it could never replace human beings, describing it instead as a catalyst for efficiency that must be matched with investment in human capacity.

Reaffirming government’s commitment to reforming the correctional service, Tunji-Ojo urged African nations to embrace technology, data-driven decision-making, institutional reforms and stronger regional cooperation.

He argued that correctional systems must be modernised to meet 21st-century demands, noting that leadership must first understand problems before proposing workable solutions.

“The approach to correctional service management in the 19th century cannot be the same as the 21st century.

Technology is no longer optional it is essential to building secure, efficient and humane correctional systems,” he said.

He commended UNODC, the African Correctional Services Association, the United States Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, and other partners for organising the conference, calling it a vital platform for advancing shared standards across the continent.

The minister reiterated that effective leadership starts with fully grasping a problem before attempting to resolve it, noting that too much time is often spent proposing solutions to problems that are not properly understood.

He urged correctional leaders to anchor reform efforts around three questions: identifying the problem, determining the right solution, and setting a clear implementation timeline.

Tunji-Ojo maintained that African countries should integrate correctional services into their broader national security strategies rather than treating them as standalone institutions, while also calling for improved information sharing among law enforcement agencies both within and across borders to prevent criminals from finding safe haven anywhere on the continent.

“I look forward to an Africa where a criminal fleeing one country cannot simply find refuge in another because our systems are connected and our institutions collaborate,” he said.

He further advocated a shift in correctional philosophy, urging stakeholders to view correctional centres as institutions of rehabilitation rather than places of mere confinement, describing them as spaces meant for transformation, restoration and hope.

The minister also called on African governments to strengthen legal frameworks governing borstal institutions and juvenile justice, insisting that young offenders should never be held alongside hardened criminals, as they deserve a chance at rehabilitation rather than a route into further criminality.

Tunji-Ojo disclosed that Nigeria has considerably expanded educational and vocational opportunities for inmates, with thousands currently enrolled in formal education, postgraduate studies, vocational training and skills development programmes.

He said these efforts, alongside structured rehabilitation initiatives, have significantly reduced recidivism and helped turn correctional facilities into centres of productivity and personal transformation.

He concluded by saying there is nothing wrong in Africa that cannot be corrected by Africans, urging stakeholders to become agents of transformation and work collectively toward correctional systems that strengthen justice, improve security and restore hope.