FG splashes N1.5bn on 116 ‘Green Maria’
November 8, 2018
There will no longer be Black Maria vehicles to transport prisoners in and out of prisons, according to the Federal Government.
At least 116 new trucks have been acquired by the government in a move it says is targeted at reforming the prisons.
Interior Minister, Abdulraman Danbazzau, said on Thursday after Wednesday’s Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting that the government has resolved to replace Black Maria vehicles for the conveyance of prisoners with Green Maria.
The newly acquired trucks cost the government N1.5 billion, Danbazzau said.
The minister said the decision was to propagate the prisons as rehabilitation centres and not places of vengeance and punishment.