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The Federal Government has renamed vehicles used for conveying inmates from prisons to courts. The vehicles which used to be known as Black Maria will ow be called Green Maria.
A bill has also been transmitted to the National Assembly for the renaming of the Nigeria Prisons Service (NPS) to Nigeria Correctional Service (NCS) to give it a new image.
The Minister of Interior, General AbdulRahaman Dambazau, disclosed this to State House reporters after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting presided by President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday.
Dambazau said the renaming was to reflect the current thinking on the rehabilitation of inmates in the country.
The minister said the FEC has approved N1.5bn for the purchase of 116 vehicles for the prison service to fast track the administration of justice in the country.
“There are over 5,000 courts and 240 prisons. Daily, we need to convey inmates awaiting trials to these courts. For speedy dispensation of justice, we need the vehicles. If there are no vehicles, there will be problem. Justice delayed, is justice denied,” he said.