Officials in charge of the maximum and minimum custodial centres in Kirikiri, Lagos state, who gave convicted cross-dresser Idris Okuneye, popularly known as Bobrisky, an apartment outside the custodial centre, have been suspended.

This follows an audio leak by Martins Vincent Otse, popularly known as VeryDarkMan, which shows that cross-dresser Bobrisky, convicted and sentenced to six months in jail defacing the naira, confessed in a phone conversation that he bribed a prison official to avoid being jailed on the premises.

The secretary of the Civil Defence, Correctional, Fire and Immigration Services Board (CDCFIB), Ja’afaru Ahmed, disclosed this in a statement on Thursday in Abuja, after the minister of interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, launched a probe into the allegations on Wednesday.

Mr Ahmed explained that the officials’ suspension is to allow the investigation into the allegations to run smoothly and assured that the findings would be made public upon completion.

Mr Ahmed stated, “Following the viral video trending on social media on alleged infractions by Officers of the Nigerian Correctional Service relating to Mr. Idris Okuneye, widely known as Bobrisky, the Civil Defence, Correctional, Fire and Immigration Services Board has suspended forthwith the following Senior Officers of the Service:

“Michael Anugwa, Deputy Controller of Corrections (DCC), In-Charge of Medium Security Custodial Centre (MSCC), Kirikiri, Lagos State; and Sikiru Adekunle, Deputy Controller of Corrections (DCC), In-Charge of Maximum-Security Custodial Centre (MSCC), Kirikiri, Lagos State.

“Also, the Board has suspended ASC II Ogbule Samuel Obinna, serving at the Medium Security Custodial Centre (MSCC), Afikpo, Ebonyi State, for allegedly accompanying a convicted inmate out of the Custodial Centre to a location outside the facility.”

The statement also added that another prison officer was suspended for receiving money for an inmate.

“In another related development, the Board has equally suspended another Senior Officer of the Service, Iloafonsi Kevin Ikechukwu, Deputy Controller of Corrections (DCC), In-Charge of Medium Security Custodial Centre (MSCC), Kuje, Abuja, for allegedly receiving money on behalf of an inmate.”