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?
Source: The Nation
Amazing! What a country! Look at human beings like chicken. Short of words
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