On October 22, unknown gunmen stormed the Abolongo Medium Correctional, Oyo, Oyo State. They freed inmates, in the awaiting-trial section, after blasting their way into the facility. The invaders, who struck at about 9:30 p.m were heavily armed with sophisticated weapons. They took on officials at the centre in a fierce shootout and gained entrance after using dynamite to blast through the wall.
The Oyo incident occurred against the backdrop of similar attacks in recent time on correctional centres in Imo, Kogi, Edo and Ekiti states. The Nigeria Correctional Service (NCS), Oyo State Command, confirmed that 837 awaiting trial inmates were sprung from the Abolongo centre.
Olanrewaju Anjorin, the spokesman of the command, said: ”All the awaiting trial detainees were forced out of custody. [But] the cells housing the convicts and the female inmates were not vandalized. Meanwhile, a total of 262 of the escapees have been rearrested, leaving 575 still at large.” He added that the NCS top brass had ordered an immediate search for, and recapture of, the fleeing inmates.
During a visit to the Abolongo facility in the aftermath of the incident, Rauf Aregbesola, Interior Minister, said the attack was not only planned and coordinated, it was also targeted at embarrassing the Muhammadu Buhari presidency. He stated that the government would track down the culprits and mete out justice to them. He also advised the fleeing inmates to hand themselves in and not wait to be rearrested.
Among other notable reactions to the Abolongo incident was that by Ondo State Governor, Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, who said recurring attacks on correctional centres in neighbouring states was a disturbing trend. Hence, he called on the Nigeria Police to bolster security arrangement at correctional centres in his state. Akeredolu’s call naturally applies to all correctional facilities across this country.
But the state of the Abolongo centre, at the time of the attack, itself spoke volumes about correctional service facility in Nigeria, as could possibly predispose the centres to frequent attacks and jailbreaks by inmates.
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Anjorin said the Abolongo centre, which was established in 2007, had a capacity for 160 inmates but, at the time of the attack, had a total population of 907 inmates. ”Of this number, awaiting trial persons were 837 representing 92 per cent, with just 64 convicts,” he added.
Prison congestion has been an unsightly feature of the justice system in Nigeria, and assurances by government that this is being redressed has not delivered tangible results at existing centres across the country.
Indeed, the persistence of this challenge, at such an abysmal level, makes the government’s promises to decongest the prisons doubtful. It is worse that the bulk of the inmates are awaiting trial, as amply illustrated by the Abolongo centre population of inmates.
In not a few instances, awaiting trial inmates have been found not guilty by the courts, after they had stayed long in incarceration, under highly deplorable conditions. Such conditions make correctional centres corked pressure bottles waiting to explode, with inmates hardly able to resist the invitation to escape when such explosion occurs.
The change of name from Nigeria Prisons Service (NPS) to Nigeria Correctional Service (NCS) has been just that — a change of name without a change of service conditions. There is, therefore, the need for concrete policy formulation and diligent execution to reform the service and make its centres truly correctional; and not punitively abusive as they currently are.
One possible way out is for states to establish and operate correctional centres rather than the present situation where the services are the exclusive preserve of the Federal Government.
But while it could be helpful to reinforce security as Akeredolu canvassed, decongestion will de-pressurize the centres and make them less inviting to frequent jailbreaks.