Prisons are meant to be reform centres. But, over the years, they have been unable to play this role. Ex-inmates of the Kirikiri Maximum and Medium Security Prisons set free on September 18 by the Chief Judge of Lagos State Justice Ayotunde Phillips paint a pathetic picture of the prisons, write ADEBISI ONANUGA and NNEKA NWANERI
Betran Anwagu was in his shop around CMS Bus Stop, Lagos Island in 2005 when he had a misunderstanding with another man and had the story of his life rewritten . Dennis Etim was arrested for robbery, instead of fighting in 2010. Sanni Musa, a trader at the Mile 12 Market, Ketu, on the outskirts of Lagos, was arrested in place of a suspected armed robber in June 2005. And Ifeanyi Nwaeze, an ex-commercial bus driver from Delta State, was accused of robbing someone in Egbeda, on the outskirts of Lagos. They were all kept in a prison cell alongside hardened criminals.
In the bleak, windswept landscape of the rapidly swelling Kirikiri Medium and Maximum Prisons, they withered.
Their looks tell tales of agony. The eyes’ sockets are seemingly loosened. They are the metaphor of lack, the simile of dejection and the apt representation of want. Yet, they just came out of what should be a reformatory centre.
No thanks to overcrowding, caused by high population of Awaiting Trial Inmates, the Kirikiri Maximum and Medium Prisons and others across the country have become the chambers of horror.
Every day, an average of 1000 Nigerians are dumped in prisons, remaining there without trial. There are those who have been there for about three years or more without being taken to court for once. Of the 42,000 inmates in the country’s prisons, 34,000 are awaiting trial, according to Minister of Interior Abba Moro. Some believe that the figures may be inaccurate given the country’s poor record-keeping.
Inmates lack enough bed spaces. So, not all enjoy the luxury of sleeping on the bed. Cells are unclean and without proper ventilation. Diseases are widespread. The government does not perform its role of meeting the daily needs of prisoners, leaving missionary bodies, charity groups and Nong-Governmental Organisations (NGO) to fill the gaps.
The prisons provide for inmates to engage in vocations such as carpentry, tailoring and so on. But not all can benefit from these. Inmates awaiting trial are excluded. They are made to pass time in prisons with nothing to show for it. Some of them have been in detention for much longer than the sentence they would have got on conviction.
Anwagu can confirm it. The 54-year-old, on September 18, regained freedom from the Kirikiri Prisons courtesy of a pardon granted him and 232 others by the Chief Judge of Lagos State, Justice Ayotunde Phillips, in exercise of the powers conferred on her under Section1(1) of the Criminal justice Release from Custody Act, Law of the Federation of Nigeria.
It was part of the activities marking the 2012/2013 Legal Year. The beneficiaries include those who have been in prison custody for upwards of three years and above, awaiting trial. They were committed to prison custody on holding charges by magistrate courts.
Anambra State-born Anwagu was arrested on March 9, 2005.
He said: “Life there was difficult. The food we were given here was not good. Though we were being fed thrice a day, the food was nothing, especially the soup. Those that had money used it to cook. Someone like me, I didn’t like the food I was served a night before I was released. So, I went to bed hungry. Before I came to prison, I was not married. The woman I was planning to marry, I haven’t seen her since this thing happened to me. “
Anwagu found himself in prison for street-fighting. According to him, a man had come to him at CMS Bus Stop, Lagos Island, where he was selling provisions. He claimed to have fought him.
Anwagu, who lost the opportunity of getting married to his heartthrob as a result of his arrest, said he was first taken to the Police Headquatres annex (Lion Building) in Lagos.
“Two hours later, the police came back with two more people and the following morning, the four of us were taken before the DPO as those found on the crime scene. That very morning, we were charged with armed robbery and remanded at Panti and later we were brought to Kirikiri.”
The unfairness of the justice system was corroborated by an ex-inmate, Etim, 39. The father of four said he had a fight with somebody with whom he had a business transaction. He claimed that in the course of the fight, the other man’s N15,000 got missing and he was arrested for robbery, instead of fighting. That was in 2010.
Etim, who spent two years and nine months in prison, alleged that the police officer, who investigated the matter, asked his mother to bring N250,000 to set him free.
He said: “ The I PO asked me to bring N250,000 so that he can set me free. He negotiated the price with my mum, then later on that day when he wanted to take me to court, he said my mother should bring N20,000 that he will change the robbery case to stealing. Then my mother said ‘no, my son did not steal anything’. So, immediately my mother left that day, he said my mother should come the next morning; it was that very morning, he took me to court, because my mother came late.”
Like other prisons, Kirikiri is congested. Awaiting Trial Prisoners (ATPs) are more than convicts. For instance, the Kirikiri Maximum Security Prison has 1,056 inmates. 763 are awaiting trials. The Medium Security Prison has 2,502 inmates; 2,378 are awaiting trial inmates. 124 are convicts.
Most of the ATPs are in custody for petty offences. Musa, one of those freed by the Lagos chief judge, was a trader at the Mile 12 Market, Ketu, on the outskirts of Lagos. He told The Nation that policemen arrested him in place of a suspected armed robber. That was in June 2005. He said of his seven years in prison: “No enjoyment for life here o. Nothing dey here. If I commot here now, I go go back to my brother where he dey sell market.”
Another beneficiary of Justice Phillips’ gesture, Victor Kapan, was dumped in prison when he was 20. He is now 32.
He said: “I was a motorcycle mechanic until I was brought in here in year 2000. Before then, some boys brought a document that I should help them change it to their own. That was all I know. I keep thanking God that I am still alive till this date because he has given me a second chance and I will never do anything that will bring me to prison again.”
The story of his life has been rewritten. “While I was here, my aunt who used to visit me, died. I also lost my junior brother and senior sister while I was there and I wasn’t allowed to attend their burials. As soon as I leave, I’ll go back to my former job but I will first go and see my aged mother in the village. Then, when God blesses me, I’ll come to worship at the chapel here and visit my brothers.”
Nwaeze wasted five years in Kirikiri. The ex-commercial bus driver from Delta State was accused of robbery.
He said: “I was born September 19 1982. They said that I went and robbed someone in Egbeda. So, they came and arrested me in my house but I didn’t do anything. They took me to the station and I spent like six months at the station. While I was there, no one came to make a statement that I actually robbed him. I was taken to a court in Ikeja once and then taken to the Kirikiri Medium Prisons for more than two years before I was brought to the Maximum Prisons.”
His ordeal has made him appreciate God.
“When I was in the free world, I never used to go to church, but I knew I was serving God. But since I came here, I am now serving the living God. Today, I feel a big relief. If my mother hears my voice, she will cry. My sister and I are the only children she has. When I leave, I will go to the East and meet my parents. I can manage some of my father’s property. I don’t want to go back to the life I used to live, living life like tomorrow did not exist. But since I had this problem, none of those ladies I used to waste money on or my so called friends has come to visit me.”
Henry Odus also benefitted from Justice Phillips’s benevolence. Odus was convicted for murder. He admitted committing the offence, which saw him spending years in prison before the chief judge came to his rescue.
Odus said: “ I was married before I came here, with two children. My wife left me and my two children came to visit me once in a while. All I can do now is to have a repentant mind.”
But if the words of Williams Owodo, an inmate serving life at the Kirikiri Maximum Prisons, are anything to go by, many of those still at the prisons may not deserve to be there.
He said: “Most of us who were sentenced to death are innocent. And Governor Babatunde Fashola should please look into our case. Our statements were written under duress.”
Morro agrees the criminal justice system needs overhauling to decongest the prisons and prevent innocent people from languishing in jail without trial.
He said: “To solve this problem would mean a total overhaul and re-planning of the criminal justice administration system. I must state that the job of decongesting the prisons vested in the Justice Ministry has not been really effective. There should be a redesigning to involve the prisons and the supervising ministry and the police and civil society organisations.”
Until then, the population of those awaiting trial will keep rising. It was 30,000 in 2010. Moro said it is now 34,000. What will it be next year?
