The Nigeria Correctional Service (NCS) has said wheelchairs and crutches can be used as weapons and therefore not allowed in custodial centres.

A representative of the NCS in Abia State Superintendent Frederick Iheke said this during a stakeholders’ meeting on the Administration of Criminal Justice Law (ACJL) organised by the Center for Transparency Advocacy.

He said though the disabled use them as aids they cannot be allowed on the premises “because if there is a problem one cannot explain why they were allowed in the first place knowing the potential harm they could cause”.

Iheke appealed to the Ministry of Justice and the Chief Judge to provide cells where inmates can be kept while waiting for the court to sit rather than the present scenario where they have to make several runs to the centre to bring inmates to the court, especially on days when they have several court sessions.