Rich Male prisoners Are Allowed To Sleep With Women For Free In Prison

They pay N50,000 for special cells, own generators for power supply
■ Sleep with women for a fee, hire others as domestic servants
■ Our laws allow separate cells for the rich –Prison authority
As Nigerians await the outcome of the investigation panel inaugurated to look into what led to the recent riot in Kirikiri Medium Security pris­on, more facts have continued to emerge on what really transpired in the incident which claimed at least three lives and more than 15 others injured.Coming to limelight are fresh claims by in­mates and ex-inmates that there are privileged or super prisoners in Nigerian prisons, thus con­firming the popular quote in George Orwell’s Animal Farm that all animals are equal but some are more equal than the others. The Prison authorities, however, deny this insisting that no such thing happens in their custody.

Investigations revealed that the prison riot was caused by a move by the newly posted Deputy Comptroller of Immigration, Kayode Odeyemi to strip some privileged prisoners of their privileges. Some inmates also accused the prison warders of diverting gifts meant for them for their personal use, adding that most of the materials seized from them by the DCP were in turn sold to them secretly by the same officials. They insisted that preference was always given to some inmates who are referred to as super or privileged prisoners.

In a bid to authenticate claims by the inmates, Saturday Sun spoke to some ex-inmates most of whom were re-arrested by the police while allegedly committing another crime. One of such is Obinna Enyinnaya who spent two years and eight months in Kirikiri Medium prison. Obinna was recently rearrested by operatives of the Special Anti Robbery Squad, Lagos police command two months after he was released from prison. He was picked up alongside seven others after raiding a house in Lagos. He insists that there are cells known as privileged cells.
In a chat with Saturday Sun, Obinna recalled that while in prison, those privileged cells were meant for those who could pay N50,000 and above to secure a space. “Those are meant for the big boys who can buy the space for N50,000. They are expected to be dropping money regu­larly or lose the space. If I have money, I can also secure one. They are the ones who are al­lowed to use their private generators, cook their food and make use of table fans in their cells .

“Our rooms are just like school dormitory where everyone is entitled to a bed space. It is manageable especially if you are seriously at­tached to a church. I belong to the Pentecostal and was an usher. Since I am worker in the church, I do not need to serve any of the big boys to become okay. Although the food is not wonderful, I have other alternatives.

“They give us food every Sunday, and toi­letries. We hardly get supply from the prison officials because we are awaiting trial. They also bring in good clothes for us. It was there I learnt how to sing and even wrote some songs”, Obinna narrated.

Another ex-inmate Henry Adebanjo, who was also re-arrested by the police, confirmed that there are special cells and that he was a ben­eficiary. “I stayed there for two months before I ran out of cash. Then I paid N40,000 to secure a space and was dropping N10,000 per month. It was a good experience, that was why I was able to leave the prison on time. I met the big boys who assisted me in getting a lawyer. Once in a while when they smuggle in women, we will share from the remnants. Some women do sleep in the private cells with inmates,” he said.

Another ex-inmate, Kayode Dada, who spent 10 years in Abeokuta prison, claimed that he served Otunba Gani Adams, National Co-ordinator of Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC) while he was in prison in 2003.

According to him, the OPC leader was one of those referred to as super prisoners. “These are big men in the society and due to one reason or the other found themselves behind the bar. When these people come to prison, they find it difficult to cope with the situation. They can’t fetch water to bathe. They also find it difficult to do other certain things. When they are confront­ed with such situations, they now give money to warders and prison officials to pick some of us to help them carry out these chores. During my time at Abeokuta prison, Otunba Gani Adams was brought to the prison. This was in 2003, I was among other inmates that were assigned to be assisting him. I was in the prison for 10 years, between 1995 and 2005 when Otunba Gbenga Daniel, the then Ogun State governor, granted me clemency”, he added.

An inmate, who is still in the medium pris­on, told Saturday Sun that until life is made bet­ter, no one should be forced to live in the hell hole called prison. “I have been here for the past 10 years and in a better position to tell you what is obtainable. It is not new, I was once in Ikoyi prisons and I know what is obtainable over there. Try and visit most of the prisons, it’s common with the Medium prison, so the new management there should stop pretending. They are only finding a way to re-negotiate for a higher price and normally, if a new comptroller is posted to the prisons, he has to wait for about two months before payments will be made to him. He should stop pretending not to know that some of these privileges were granted us even while he was the PRO.

“Some of us were able to enter the privileged section because of what we can afford. Initially, it was meant for the big boys or politicians who have contacts in government. Nobody touches them or dares to disturb them. The only dif­ference is that they are inside the prison. I was awaiting trial for the past 10 years, therefore, am not a convict and no one should treat me as such.”

On rumours of free access for women into the prison, he said laughing: “We are not monks and besides, gay practice in Nigeria is now a crime. How do you want people like us to sur­vive for 10 years without sex. It is impossible but that is not the matter in contention. There is no way they can completely erase those privi­leges unless they build a separate prison for the big boys. Don’t tell me that you are not aware that some inmates spend their sentence in a pri­vate ward in the hospital. They leave the prison and are supposedly moved to the hospital as soon as their lawyer buys a court order from a judge. Some of us prefer to remain inside the prison, it’s cheaper especially if you have spent so many years like me.”

Yet another inmate, who is in Ikoyi prison, also confirmed that there are special prisoners and that there are so many of them in Ikoyi. “Most of the cases here are big time cases and the inmates are mostly big time suspected criminals and even armed robbers. They have the money and any comptroller that is posted to Ikoyi prisons must be an anointed one and does everything humanly possible to remain in that position for long. Riots don’t happen here because we are all mature and have an under­standing with the authorities”, he said.

He claimed that there are reserved quarters in the prison where an inmate is entitled to a room and parlour, allowed to cook his food inside the prison. “Am currently serving two masters and they have assisted me financially especially in providing for my young family that I left behind”, he added.