The federal government Wednesday reiterated its resolve to clampdown on any form of torture, cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment in the country.
The Solicitor-General of the Federation (SGF) and permanent secretary, Ministry of Justice, Mrs Beatrice Jedy-Agba, gave the hint at a sensitisation and advocacy workshop for law enforcement agencies and other critical stakeholders on the United Nations Convention against torture, in Abuja.
Jedy-Agba said the FG will expand the law preventing the use of torture to include psychiatric hospitals and other places where people are not allowed to leave at their own will.
The move, according to her, forms part of efforts at prioritising initiatives aimed at preventing torture and other forms of cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment.
The session, she added, was designed to highlight the responsibilities conferred on the federal government, particularly its law enforcement agencies and other public officials, towards the prevention of torture in Nigeria.
“We are currently reviewing the Anti Torture Act and Regulations to expand the definition of torture and improve mechanisms to discourage and eliminate torture in places of detention, such as deprivation of liberty in Nigeria, such as police stations, prisons and other detention facilities, psychiatric hospitals and any other place where people are not permitted to leave at their own will,” she said.