THE Mulapnen Capacity Building Initiative (MUCABI), a non profit organisation, has celebrated this year’s World Mental Health Day with inmates in Jos, the Plateau State capital by engaging them in mental talks and counselling to give them hope.
This celebration which was in collaboration with Rescue Outreach Centre Nigeria, YIAVHA, and Global Law Thinkers Society, took place at the Department of the Nigeria Correctional Centre, Jos Hall, where hundreds of the inmates participated and were counselled and given some food items.
Speaking to the inmates at the Jos Department of the Nigeria Correctional Centre, the Guest Speaker, Dr. Garba Yohanna, PhD, who is a Clinical Psychologist counselled the inmates on mental health. He pointed out some of the causes, symptoms and ways to overcome it.
On his part, Pastor Alhassan Mohammed, the National Coordinator of the Rescue Outreach Center, Nigeria, while presenting some of the mental health tips said, “I am privileged to be part of this World Mental Health Awareness to have counselled some of our brothers who are incarcerated here in Jos Correctional Centre”.
Earlier, the Team-Lead of Mulapnen Capacity Building Initiative (MUCABI), Dabong Job Nanma, said the World Mental Health Awareness Day was celebrated on October 10 every year and that they were at the Jos Correctional Centre to create awareness to inmates on the importance of mental health.
He said, “Although, government has always been doing well, we want to make an awakening call that there are people here who need mental health awareness, because they have been kept out of their comfort homes to be here and they are really suffering from serious mental challenges.
“So, we really want to call on the government to see the need to come in and provide the necessary and conducive environment for them with programmes like vocational skills, sporting activities to help them stay away from negative thinking that will bring problems to them”, he appealed.
Meanwhile, the Bassa Local Government Youth Leader and an Islamic scholar, Yahayanu Alhassan Abdullahi, observed that in the course of counselling some of the inmates, he discovered that most of the inmates were actually criminals, but some were really innocent because they were just set up by those who hated them.
During the counselling session coordinated by the personnel of the Correctional Service, Mr. EA Gokir had 15 counsellors, among which were Clinical Psychologists, trained counsellors, Emotional CPR, Imams, and Pastors listening to about 40 inmates who were attended to individually.
