Many inmates in custodial centres are reportedly facing death from hunger due to poor feeding and rampant food racketeering.

This was made known on Thursday in Abuja by the Secretary of the Independent Investigative Panel, Dr Uju Agomoh, on alleged corruption and other violations against the Nigeria Correctional Service (NCoS) while briefing the media.

Ms Agomoh spoke to journalists at the ongoing second public hearing to address the alleged corruption, abuse of power and degrading treatment of detainees against NCoS on Thursday in Abuja.

She said, “During our inspection visit as a panel, in February 2024, there was no food up to the approved weekly standards by the service. The stock they are supposed to have for at least seven days, as is the practice, is not being implemented. This is about being open to knowing where the problem is because many inmates are dying due to lack of food. I have personally been going to correctional centres for more than 30 years, but I have never seen what we see these days. There have always been problems, but it has never been the way it is now.’’

Ms Agomoh, who doubled as the Founder of Prisoners’ Rehabilitation and Welfare Actions (PRAWA), emphasised that transparency was crucial for the investigative panel’s goal of enhancing efficiency within the NCoS.

She, however, warned that starving inmates posed a danger, as hunger could fuel aggression.

She added that the panel’s investigation revealed that officers in-charge of facilities were responsible for supplying food, but prioritised profits over performing their duties.

She noted, “First, the quantity that is provided is small. Second, this drive for profit-making worsens the process. The officers in-charge are one of the checks and balances for the contractors.’’

The panel secretary requested a response from the Nigerian Correctional Service regarding the implementation of Section 14, Subsection 4 of the NCoS Act.

Speaking, the NCoS Acting Comptroller General, Sylvester Nwakuche, disclosed that a ‘Prison Ration Committee’ had been established to monitor the quality and quantity of food served to inmates.

Mr Nwakuche, represented by Assistant Controller General (ACG), Ibrahim Idris, assured that the service regularly conducted routine checks and maintained a constant presence on duty.

A member of the panel, Dr Ikechukwu Ezeugo, observed that only a few of the correctional service’s over 12 farm centres were operational.

Mr Ezeugo further observed that food produced by inmates in the farm centres was not utilised to feed them, but rather sold to food contractors, who then resale or resupply the produce to the farm centres and other custodial facilities.

He said, “The panel also discovered that inmates at the farm centres were unfit for labour, including those with health conditions like sickle cell anaemia, as well as underage detainees.

The Minister of Interior, Dr. Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, had in September 2024 inaugurated the panel to probe allegations of corruption and gross abuse of office levelled against some personnel of the NCoS.

Mr Tunji-Ojo, who is also the Chairman of the Civil Defence, Correctional, Fire, and Immigration Services Board, suspended several officers overseeing the Maximum and Minimum Custodial Centres in Kirikiri, Lagos State.
(NAN)