The Nation Newspaper

Tag: inmates

  • Inmates of hope

    •The example of Vincent Obi of Lagos prisons command

    Ordinarily, a prison sentence should not signal the foreclosure of hope or of the possibility of a redemptive future for those who find themselves facing the legal consequences of infractions of the law. In enlightened jurisdictions, the purpose of imprisonment transcends meting out punishment to the convict to also trying as much as possible to make a prison term a corrective period during which the inmate  is given an opportunity to become a better person and a potentially more valuable member of society.

    One way of achieving this is by encouraging convicts to improve their education and acquire advanced knowledge or specialised skills during their incarceration. This, of course, implies a prison system with the requisite physical facilities, psychological environment and ethical values to help nudge those compelled to pass through it towards a greater sense of responsibility and higher moral standards.

    Despite the depressing and discouraging news that often emanate from Nigeria’s prisons, there is a growing trend of affording inmates the chance of sitting for external examinations and acquiring valuable certificates, which are refreshing glimmers of hope. It is noteworthy, for instance, that 367 prison inmates were among the 1.7 million candidates who sat for the Y2017 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UMTE), which has just taken place in 624 centres across the country. The Lagos Command of the Nigeria Prisons Service offers an instructive snapshot of the general picture. In this command, 28 inmates sat for the UMTE in 2015, 32 in 2016 and 60 this year.

    Speaking on this trend in 2015, the Controller of Prisons, Lagos Command, Mr. Vincent Obi, gave some useful insight into why this heartwarming development is becoming part of our prison culture. In his words, “The education of these inmates is of top priority to us. Like I always tell them each time I go for routine checks in the prisons, their being in incarceration does not mean all hopes are lost. I usually remind them of the importance of education and the tremendous benefits that come with it, irrespective of the circumstance anyone might find himself or herself. Now, with the UTME around the corner, we have been preparing these people fully in all the subjects and they also improved on their level of literacy”.

    The many patriotic prison officials like Obi deserve commendation for being a source of encouragement and motivation to the inmates in the drive for self-improvement, which has led to increased enrolment in the various prison facilities. Some of the prison personnel are reportedly drafted to serve as teachers in various subjects to the inmates alongside other volunteer teachers. The authorities of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) must also be lauded for taking cognizance of prison inmates in their plans.

    It has also turned out that the existence of the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) has been of benefit to many inmates. Again, according to Mr. Obi, some of the inmates who gained admission into NOUN have performed impressively. “Of note”, he says, “is one of the inmates who graduated in 2015 with first class, and is currently teaching other inmates in the prison facilities. Such persons, if they are on life sentence, we often make a case to their respective state governments and their prerogative of mercy officer will take it from there to recommend such inmates for pardon”.

    We urge the acceleration of comprehensive prison reforms to address such challenges as intolerable overcrowding, insanitary conditions, poor hygiene, inadequate and poor quality food, water shortages and sundry human rights abuses among other ills that make it impossible for our prisons to truly serve as corrective and humanity-enhancing facilities.

  • Soldiers feed inmates, motherless babies in Aba

    Soldiers from 144 Battalion, Ukwa West Local Government Area of Abia State and friends of the Battalion’s Officers Mess have visited inmates of the Aba Prisons and Ngwa Road Motherless Babies home. They did not go empty-handed; they took food items and other daily needs along.

    Some of the items donated at the Aba correctional facility were two bags of rice, 22 tubers of yam, two cartons of malt, two cartons of tissue paper, a carton of detergent soap and about N13, 000 cash. At the Ngwa road Motherless Babies Home, they delivered two cartons of tissue paper, two bags of rice, three cartons of diapers, two cartons of malt and milk products, sweets, one carton of toilet soap, cartons of biscuits and a cash donation of N10,000.

    At the home the babies relished a rare opportunity to interact with soldiers, while for the prison inmates it was a chance to view their uniformed benefactors in another light considering that they may well have been the ones who once arrested and handed them over to the police. Some may even be thankful to the visitors for sparing their lives.

    Speaking to newsmen, Lt. Col. Umar Kasim Sidi, the 144 Battalion Commander said that they embarked on the project as part of their humanitarian obligation to touch the lives of indigent members of the public and to also show love to the needy with help from other members of the 144 Battalion Mess.

    Sidi who stated that the visit was to further foster military-civilian relationship in their host community, said that the military while fighting crime in Aba and its environs are also aware that the needs of the people living in their immediate community must be met.

    He warned those who because of economic challenges took to crime to retrace their steps, stressing that the weight of the law would not hesitate to befall anyone that took to crime instead of exploring opportunities provided for by the abundant legitimate businesses in the country.

    “We are aware that the economy is bad and people are not finding it easy to feed well. The federal government cannot be left alone to carter for the needs of the people and that’s why we decided to in our own little way see how we can come in and assist the less privileged in the country.

    “In military mess, we have officers and civilian members. That is why what we have donated to the two homes came from our men and other members of the mess.

    “I want to use this opportunity to assure the inmates of Aba Prisons that there is still hope for them regardless of their present conditions, while I want to say that I am optimistic that children of motherless babies’ homes in Aba will continue to benefit from this exercise because we want to make it more regular.”

    The Civilian President, Mess Committee, Mr. Sunny Mgbemena, an engineer, said the exercise was laudable, adding that he was touched by the plight of the inmates.

    Mgbemena who said that they would always assist the army and other security agencies in the state to touch the lives of the poor also stated that they would encourage members of the public to provide useful information to army and other agencies of government with useful information that will help them fight crime in the commercial city and above.

    A Chief Superintendent of Nigerian Prison Service (NPS), J.O. Nzerem who represented the Aba Prison chiet, DCP Stephen Ugbah thanked the 144 Battalion Officer’s Mess for coming.

    Ugbah promised that the items would be judiciously used.

  • 12 inmates get CJ’s amnesty

    12 inmates get CJ’s amnesty

    Twelve illegally detained inmates of Aba Federal Prison,  with pending cases in courts, have been granted amnesty by the Abia State Chief Judge (CJ), Justice Theresa Uzokwe.

    She was at the prison on Tuesday to perform jail delivery.

    While seven inmates, namely Ogochukwu Nwaeze, Obinna Nwankwo, Iko Mohammed, Peter Jonah, Akajiaku Achilihu, Ndubuisi Uwakwe and Udo Akpan got discharged because they were unlawfully and illegally detained; Ezere Jite, Nnamdi and Eziaha Chigbu got N50, 000 bail each with one surety.

    The CJ said some of the discharged inmates were yet to be arraigned, while others could have served out their jail terms if they were tried and convicted of the crimes they were accused of.

    She condemned delayed trials and stringent conditions of bail by magistrates and judges.

    Justice Uzokwe directed judges to expedite action on cases. Justice Kenneth Nwosu of Aba High Court III described the exercise as a landmark.

    The Deputy Comptroller of Prisons (DCP) in charge of Aba Prison, Stephen Ugba, hailed the CJ for the action, saying the transparency of the exercise would give hope to inmates and reduce stress experienced by the officials in charge of the inmates.

    He solicited government’s and people’s support to equip the prison.

  • ‘6000 awaiting trials inmates don’t have lawyers’

    Six Thousand inmates are awaiting trial in Lagos Prisons, according to Prison Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN) Executive Director Benson Iwuagwu.

    They do not have lawyers, said Iwuagwu, who is also Lagos State Restorative Justice Project Coordinator.

    He called for the establishment of a unit within the prisons command to facilitate the referral of inmate to the Restorative Justice Centre (RJC) for legal representation.

    Iwuagwu spoke during a technical meeting of the Lagos State Restorative Justice Steering Committee, an initiative of the PFN in partnership with the Lagos State Government. The project is supported by the European Union and Nigeria United Nation’s Office on Drug and Crime (UNODC).

    Iwuagwu said the country’s criminal justice system was struggling with crippling challenges of delay, over-use of custodial measures and consequent overcrowding in prison.

    “Over 70 per cent of Nigeria’s prison population is currently awaiting trial in overcrowded detention centres, with 90 per cent of them lacking legal representation,” Iwuagwu said in a communique issued after the meeting.

    He said the delay and congestion were linked to what he called the “largely” retributive justice system, despite the transformative provisions in the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (2015).

    According to Iwuagwu, restorative justice can be applied at every stage of the criminal justice process, from pre-charge to post conviction and has the capacity to transform the criminal justice system.

    “This is because restorative justice gives the victim and community, voice, in the criminal justice system, whilst enabling the offenders to face the consequences of their actions and inspire rehabilitation and reconciliation,” he said.

    Deputy Controller Welfare, Nigeria Prison Service, Lagos, Musili Olasanya said the restorative system would address the issue of classification and delayed trial.

    “We have over 7000 inmates, 1000 are convicted, over 6000 are awaiting trials. About 1000 of those on trial have lawyers to represent them in court,” Olasanya said.

    Co-ordinator, UNODC Support for Justice Sector Reform Programme, Nigeria Dr Uju Agomo said restorative justice was embedded in the African traditional system that is rooted in communalism. This, he said, could be adapted to Lagos State and Nigeria’s Criminal Justice system.

    She said there was need to strengthen the legislative and administrative footing for restorative Justice through an executive bill for the establishment of Lagos State Restorative Justice Centre.

  • Abakaliki Prisons solicits support for inmates

    A university undergraduate and winner of Glo Campus Storm, Mr Gabriel Ajah has called on members of the public to helping prison inmates.

    He made the appeal in Abakaliki, the Ebonyi State capital, when he paid a visit to inmates of the Abakaliki Prison.

    Speaking to The Nation, Mr Ajah said he was in the prisons to enlighten the inmates on the need to have positive mindset and be useful to the society after their stay in the prisons.

    He used the occasion to donate drugs, blankets, motivational books, exercise books and other items to the inmates.

    Mr Ajah, student of Ebonyi State University, noted that the money for the items was from the prize money he won during a recent edition of the Global campus stor.

    He urged members of the public to always remember the prisons inmates who he noted are really in a precarious condition.

    According to him, ‘their is live after the prison sentence and that is what we want the inmates to note, being a convict or ex-convict does not mean it is the end of the world, it starts with having a positive mind set and building yourself up with a determination to become a better person’.

    High point of the event was a talk to the inmates by a lecturer in EBSU Amiara Solomon Amiara on being responsible citizens during and after their stay in the society.

    Meanwhile, the Nigeria Prison Service, Ebonyi state comand have solicited assistance from members of the public for the inmates.

    The NPS noted that the inmates depend on the society to survive.

    Deputy Comptroller of the Prisons, Maduaku Emmanuel stated this when a Glo campus Ambassador, Gabriel Ajah visited the prisons.

    He called on government, NGOs and public spirited individuals to impact positively on the inmates by visiting and sharing with them whatever they have.

  • A thought for prison inmates

    SIR: Naturally, we have sufficient number of Nigerians speaking out on the poor state of infrastructure, unemployment, inflation, corruption among others. Few are concerned about the state of our prison and welfare of prison inmates in the country. Prison is an institution created by the law to provide rehabilitation and correctional facility for those who violated the law as a punitive measure. Considering this, one is compelled to ask how the society perceive prison experience and how ex-convicts are integrated  back into the society?

    There have been instances where ex-convicts came out to become better citizens, while majority of others further consolidate on criminal acts that previously sent them into prison.  In many instances, society seems to further compound the plight of ex-convicts by their stigmatization. Hardly will anyone want to associate with them after release, thus making their re-integration a mirage. It is bad enough that society avoids them like plague, but worse still that their immediate and extended families become laughting stocks in their immediate environment.

    In terms of rehabilitation, Nigeria’s prison looks like a bad solution. Over the years, the welfare of prison inmates in Nigeria have deteriorated as many such prisons do not meet the minimum standard of treatment that should be given to prisoners.  Other rights violated include absence of minimum feeding, allocation of accommodation, medical facility and other needed provisions or logistics.  Until Lagos State among few other states of the federation donated brand new Toyota Coaster buses to convey prison inmates awaiting trial, oven or heat entrapped Black maria lorries were fashionable means of moving inmates around.

    Many prisons are seen to be over-congested with attendant facility decay, thus jeorpadising the life of inmates. In recent time, many incidents of jail break have been traced to the poor minimum welfare conditions of inmates. In Gombe State, it was reported that about 669 inmates are to be treated for scabies – a disease associated with over-crowdiness.

    Against the goal of the Nigeria prison services which is the reformation and safety of legally sentenced inmate, the prison has added responsibility to train inmates in trades or vocations for their benefits and that of society during confinement. Many of the prisons that are supposed to accommodate about 300 inmates have about 750 occupants. In present day Nigeria where latrines are being phased out, it is disgusting that bucket latrines which constitute serious health hazard are in use in some of Nigeria prisons, while little or no medical facilities are on ground for inmates. Funds and welfare packages also meant for inmates are often allegedly diverted for other purposes. Thus, inmates are often malnourished without bedding spaces for most of them.

    In as much as the prison should not be a palace for inmates, it should equally not be a place where inmates should experience hell on earth. It is, therefore, important that the prison institution in Nigeria is urgently reformed. In this regards, there is need for authorities concerned to make available educational/vocational facilities and other such that could readily support the needs of inmates. The earlier this is done, the better for the society.

     

    • Bolaji Odumade,

    Lagos State Ministry of Information and Strategy, Alausa, Ikeja.

  • Adeboye to inmates: don’t give up

    The General Overseer of The Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), Pastor Enoch Adeboye, has urged inmates in Kirikiri Maximum Prison not to give up on their dreams.

    He said this during a visit to the facility, assuring God is awake to their requests and will meet them in good time.

    According to him: “When God’s time comes, nothing can stand in His ways.”

    He told them that he has taken note of their requests and pledged to do his best to fulfill them.

    “My heart is with you and I will take up the case of those condemned to death with the highest authorities,” he assured.

    Pastor Tunwashe Kabiru noted the impact of Adeboye’s previous visits to the facility.

    Some of the projects attracted after the visits, he said, include the renovation of the National Open University (NOUN) prison special study centre, its equipment with

    computer sets and scholarship for NOUN students.

    He also mentioned payment of the medical bills of one of the inmates who fractured his leg in the course of exercising himself in the football pitch, among others.

    According to him, the inmates of the facility would be grateful if Adeboye extends more of his charitable works to them.

    “Above all, the uppermost in our hearts is freedom. We plead therefore that you solicit on our behalf to the state governors, especially for the condemned convicts and those serving life imprisonment, as your plea for clemency on our behalf always gives birth to testimonies,” he said.

    Deputy Comptroller General, Kirikiri Maximum Prison, Seye Olukoya, thanked Adeboye for the visit.

    According to him: “Every two years after Pastor Adeboye visits the prison, testimonies abound and it will always leave indelible marks.”

  • Oshiomhole commutes four death row inmates to life imprisonment

    Oshiomhole commutes four death row inmates to life imprisonment

    …Pardons impersonators

     

    Outgoing Governor of Edo State, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole Friday marked his last days in office by commuting four death row inmates to life imprisonment.

     

    The inmates whose names were not made available as at press time had served over 25 years waiting for the hangman.

     

    Oshiomhole disclosed this at a thanksgiving mass in response to call by the Archbishop of Benin Diocese, Obiora Akubeze, on Oshiomhole to forgive those that offended him.

     

    Oshiomhole said he believed the four inmates have suffered enough but they need to remain in prison to know that murder is not fun.

     

    He said he acted in line with the advice of the Committee on the Prerogative of Mercy.

     

    Governor Oshiomhole also granted pardon to two persons, a boy and a girl who impersonated the governor and his wife, Iara, on facebook in 2011

     

    Both of them were arrested and the boy was sentenced to seven years imprisonment after confessing to the crime while the trial of the girl is still on.

     

    Oshiomhole said he has ordered the Commissioner for Justice and Attorney-General, Henry Idahagbon to sign the necessary documents and get the boy released from prison.

     

    He promised to send both of them back to school and make them become better citizens.

     

    Governor Oshiomhole however refused to forgive the now deposed Onojie of Uromi, HRH Anslem Eidenojie 11.

     

    Oshiomhole said those seeking forgiveness must confess their sins and he would not allow a situation where the suspended Monarch asked his victim to apologize.

     

    He said to forgive everyone is to compromise on corruption.

  • Collapsed bridge stalls transportation of inmates to court

    The collapsed Moro Bridge stalled the transportation of inmates of the Mandalla prison in Asa Local Government of Kwara State to the court in Ilorin, the state capital, it was learnt yesterday.

    According to the officer-in-charge of the prison, Abayomi Gbadamosi, the bridge, also known as the Bailey bridge, and which links Oyo State to Kwara, collapsed last Monday.

    He lamented that apart from the inability of the prison’s management to move inmates to court in Ilorin, the development had paralysed other activities at the prison.

    “Operationally, the prison cannot make its statutory representation in various courts in Ilorin since the bridge collapsed,” he said.

    Gbadamosi said he could not take the risk of transporting the inmates through alternative routes which he described as long, risky and tiresome.

    “It is basically not safe to carry our inmates through unofficial roads, whatever happens to them would not be explainable by me and so to play safe, we decided not to go to court at all.”

    Gbadamosi added that the prison authorities will take the warrants of inmates who are supposed to appear in court during this period to seek for an adjournment.

    He said the situation had compelled the prison authorities to reduce its workers’ three shifts to two to enable them walk through the river during the day.

    He appealed to the state government to put palliative measures in place to make the bridge motorable pending when the Federal Government will reconstruct the bridge.

    He said the site of the bridge has been taken over by touts extorting money from people passing through the area on foot.

  • Lagos CJ frees 11 prison inmates

    The Chief Judge (CJ) of Lagos State, Justice Olufunmilayo Atilade, freed 11 awaiting trial inmates in Badagry Prisons.

    Those granted amnesty were among the 174 inmates whose names were sent to the Lagos State Prisons Decongestion Committee headed by Justice Oluwatoyin Ipaye for a review of their cases.

    Their release brings to 2,076 the number of awaiting trial inmates freed from the five prisons in the state since the CJ assumed office in 2014.

    “Having been informed by the prison officials of the offence for which you have been in prison for a period longer than three months, I pronounce you freed pursuant to the provisions of Sections 1(1) of the Criminal Justice (Release from Custody) Act, 2007 and Section 35 of the 1999 Constitution.

    “You are all hereby released from custody this November 3, 2016. I charge you to go and sin no more”, she said.

    Justice Atilade said with their freedom, they could now contribute positively to the society.

    She said: “The objective of this exercise will remain futile if they are not truly reformed. I urge those of you who have regained freedom today to remain good ambassadors and shy away from crimes that will bring you back to the prison.

    “I also want you all to see this gesture as an opportunity to live a better life and begin a new life afresh.”

    Earlier, the Deputy Comptroller of Prisons (DCP) in charge of Badagry Prison, Mr Tinuoye Olumide, said the prison built to accommodate 160 inmates has 370 inmates.

    He explained that 163 of the inmates are on the awaiting trial list. 207 others are convicts.

    Tinuoye complained of inadequate funding and overstretched infrastructure at the prison particularly vehicles for conveying the inmates to  courts.