Date: 2016-11-25

The Kwara State Prisons Command has restated that its officials did not beat six inmates of Oke Kura Prison, Ilorin, to death as alleged in some quarters.

The command's Public Relations Officer, Philip Adegbulugbe, corroborated our lead story in the last edition; "How 6 made condemned inmates died in Ilorin Prison, " while speaking with newsmen yesterday in Ilorin, the state capital.

According to him, 54 condemned inmates of the prison had protested on November 17, requesting an audience with the Comptroller, Adetoyi Akangbe Oluwole. He said the inmates had complained that the quality of food served them was very poor adding that when the comptroller met with them, they requested to be served a plate of food with four pieces of meat or fish at every meal. He said the inmates also demanded to be allowed to walk around the prison yard from 8 am to 8 pm.

According to him, the inmates also demanded to be provided with CD players and allowed to use telephones. The prisons spokesman said that after listening to them, the comptroller appealed to the convicts to be patient and that their request would be channelled to prisons headquarters.

"The rule guiding the command says that the inmates in condemned cells should be allowed to walk around for one hour daily. "On November 17, the inmates took over the prison, broke the door, threw faeces at the officials and attempted to run outside the prison yard. "The armed force of the command used tear-gas on them to prevent them from running away.

"The following day, we noticed that some of them were injured and they were rushed to the hospital where six were confirmed dead and 11 injured," he said. Adegbulugbe said that the Comptroller-General of Prisons, Jaafaru Ahmed, had set up a three-member committee to investigate the matter. In a related development, the Kwara State Comptroller of Prisons, Adetoyi Akangbe Oluwole in an exclusive interview with this medium in his office yesterday, disclosed that the injured inmates are now in good condition.

He added that the inmates are responding to treatment and will be returned to the prison when they are done with their treatment. Adetoyi frowned at reports in some national dailies that there was uneasy calm over the state of health of the inmates who were allegedly seriously injured in the 'jailbreak attempt'.

"Reports in some national dailies stated that five out of the inmates were lying critically ill in the prison medical facility after sustaining various degrees of injuries but such report is untrue," he said. The prison boss urged newsmen not to misinform the public adding that they should seek confirmation before publishing their stories.

He also debunked claim of maltreatment of the inmates as there are rules and regulations guiding the operation of warders in the country. "We don't maltreat prisoners as we operate in line with Mandela's rule that says, all prisoners should be treated with respect and must be protected as humans," he said, adding that there was no protest at the Federal Prison Service, Mandala as widely circulated.

According to him, one of the major demands that led to the fracas at Oke-Kura was that the condemned inmates were agitating for MP3 phones. "The condemned prisoners demanded for MP3 phones to know what is happening in the world while serving their term."

On the alleged 'poor quality of food' served at the prison, Adetoyi said there was nothing wrong with the food given to the inmates, adding that they were served meat or fish on every meal excluding beans and garri and they ate meals on schedule.

He said the inmates were given all they needed in prison and so could not understand the reason for the riot as his officers make welfare of convicts their priority. Adetoyi however said investigation is ongoing on the riot as the Comptroller General has set up a 3-man committee headed by the Assistant Comptroller General of Prisons to look in to the matter and put an end to the situation.

Meanwhile, a top official of the prison who spoke to our reporter on condition of anonymity last night disclosed that the condemned inmates have been planning to stage a riot midway through the month of November. He said the inmates adduced being forgotten without anyone looking into their plight in the prison as reason to stage the demonstration.

According to the source, "During the military regime, condemned prisoners don't last in prisons but no execution has been made in the last 16 years of democracy. There is bound to be problem anytime the cells are congested.

"Nowadays, crime increases daily as we now have kidnappers, ritualists, cultists among others. So the inmates are increasing and the prison is becoming congested with 423 prisoners at Oke Kura fighting for 121 spaces." The source added that the prisoners were always allowed two hours of leisure against the prison act CAP P 29 which stated that inmates can only be allowed one hour leisure daily.

He added that feeding allowance approved by the Federal Government is N450 daily per inmate. According to him, the contractor handling their feeding will pay VAT and spend the balance on feeding of inmates.

The source also said that proposal will be sent to the state government on suggestions to improve Kwara prisons adding that part of the recommendation is expansion of the condemned criminals' cell at Oke Kura and construction of such cell at Mandala plus increase in other facilities.

Recall that the Minister of Interior, Lt. Gen Abdulrahman Dambazau (rtd) has ordered investigations into the Oke Kura riot. Worried by the development, the minister directed an Intra Ministerial Committee to work closely with Nigerian Prisons' management team towards unravelling the remote circumstances surrounding the incident to avoid a repeat of such in any of the nation's penitentiary and to sanction any officer caught indicted in the findings.

A statement signed by the Press Secretary to the minister, Osaigbovo Ehisienmen and released in Abuja on Tuesday noted that the prison which was built in 1914 with 121 inmates capacity is bound to experience difficulties with a population of 417 inmates.

The statement added that the federal government has embarked on reconstruction of old prisons, while also building new facilities in some locations. The minister reassured of his resolve to retool the country's prison service, to play its pivotal role of reforming, rehabilitating and re-integrating transformed inmates to the society while ensuring that the rights of prisoners are well protected.