- As FG orders probe, suspends senior prison officials over Bobrisky allegations
Although the Federal Government has suspended some senior officers of the Nigerian Correctional Service over bribery allegations regarding controversial crossdresser Idris Okuneye, widely known as Bobrisky, the April 2022 allegations of rights lawyer, Femi Falana (SAN) that Nigerian prison officials arranged for young people to serve jail terms for criminals, is a clear indication that deeper investigation should have commenced in the prison sector long ago.
Below is a reproduction of that report.
Speaking on 8 April 2022 at a media session titled, “Forget the past, forfeit the future: A nation seceding from humanity” in Lagos, Falana revealed that criminals who have been convicted of a crime are allowed to walk freely on the streets after warders connive with convicts to pay youths willing to serve jail terms on behalf of criminals.
According to him, some of them who have been condemned to prison terms in Kirikiri hardly get there as the exchange is made at Mile 2, a few kilometres to the prison.
He also said that there were some convicts who don’t seek a replacement or representation in prison but simply pay court officials after which he goes from the court to his house.
He noted, “This will surprise you, when a judge pronounces a jail term, sir, before getting to Kirikiri, at Mile 2, warders have an arrangement whereby some prepared young persons will replace the convict. That is the person that will enter the prison, he’s paid.
“The second one, in the court premises, there’s a syndicate by the defence counsel, prosecutors, warders and court clerks. Once the judge turns his back, the convict will arrange and pay them and the convict will walk back home.
“There’s a study in Lagos, I think 2005/2006, 199 people sentenced for drug trafficking, none of them made it to the prison. It’s a very serious crisis we are facing. If you want to discuss the security of our country, it goes beyond calling for mercenaries.”
A blogger, Martins Otse known as VeryDarkMan, had alleged in viral videos that some officers of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) collected ₦15 million from Bobrisky for the anti-graft agency to drop money laundering charges against him during his naira spraying ordeal in April after which a court sentenced him to six months’ imprisonment.
The blogger also alleged that Bobrisky paid some millions of naira to secure a choice place in prison.
Bobrisky has since denied the allegations while the EFCC and the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS) had ordered investigations into the allegations by the blogger.
In a statement on Thursday, the Civil Defence, Correctional, Fire and Immigration Services Board said the suspension of the officers followed a viral video on alleged infractions against them.
The statement which was signed by Ja’afaru Ahmed said the suspension of these officers is to allow for further investigation of the various allegations while assuring that the outcome would be made public when concluded.
The officers are “Michael Anugwa, Deputy Controller of Corrections (DCC), in charge of Medium Security Custodial Centre (MSCC), Kirikiri, Lagos State; and Sikiru Adekunle, Deputy Controller of Corrections (DCC), in charge of Maximum-Security Custodial Centre (MSCC), Kiri-kiri, Lagos State.”
The Board has suspended ASC II Ogbule Samuel Obinna, serving at the Medium Security Custodial Centre (MSCC), Afikpo, Ebonyi State, for allegedly accompanying a convicted inmate out of the Custodial Centre to a location outside the facility.
“In another related development, the Board has equally suspended another Senior Officer of the Service, Iloafonsi Kevin Ikechukwu, Deputy Controller of Corrections (DCC), In-Charge of Medium Security Custodial Centre (MSCC), Kuje- Abuja, for allegedly receiving monies on behalf of an inmate.”
