Alright, now my shock has subsided, I can finally speak about the horrid nightmare that the Nigerian prison system is.
12:00pm, Wednesday the 5th of December, 2018. I was Driven into a relatively calm neighborhood, about 8 minutes away from Ikoyi club 1938 Golf Course.
I Couldn’t tell it was a prison if not for the high walls and barbed wire, mostly because of where it was sited, in the business district of Ikoyi.
The only barrier between me and what lay ahead were two steel gates. Before the excursion had begun, I was duly informed by prison officials to leave all electronic devices outside.
Soon as I stepped through the first gate I was given a tab I had to present when I leave, ‘178’ engraved on this 3x3 cm blue tab. From where I stood, I could see through the second gate which was barred unlike the first gate. Not long afterwards I was welcomed through the second gate by a Prison officer known simply as Timi.
Standing in the Prison yard, all I could see were faces full of despair staring at me, neatly adorned in my navy blue suit and brown brogues. For a second I felt my spirit leave my body and float across that space. In the distance I saw an inmate chopping wood with an axe; another inmate carrying packs of beverages into a store.
Timi’s voice brought me back to reality as he gave a brief introduction about the Nigerian Prison Service, but it was what he said next that struck me. “This prison was built to house 800 inmates. But, as at this morning, my inmate count was 3198.” Three times the capacity!
He took me to ward B, through a corridor lined with inmates who just stared at me like I was something alien. There was no barrier between me and these gentlemen, anyone one of them could have picked up an axe and taken my head clean off, but they didn’t.
Ward B was an eyesore, it housed over 1000 inmates in two detached blocks no bigger than 5 times the size of my bedroom. Drenched blankets spread all over the complex in a bid to dry off the sweat from the previous night. In my usual nature I walked up to an inmate an said “chairman how far?” And he said “I’m fine, God bless you.” Another inmate walked over to where I was and said “Look every document well before you sign.” I giggled, knowing that statement was influenced by how I was dressed.
Next, Timi took me to a classroom where Inmates were taught at all levels, and the numbers inscribed on the desk suggested that external exams were being taken here, which Timi later clarified.
From the way he spoke I heard a man who was passionate about his job; I could tell that the next words he said hurt him deeply as it did me; “Out of all the inmates here, only about 400 are convicted, the remaining 2000 plus are awaiting trial.”
Finally, he solicited unbehalf of some inmates who were given jail sentences with an option of fine, which in some cases were under 100,000 Naira, “Go to the court and pay so that they can release these young men.”
I cannot completely put in words what I saw and how I felt on Wednesday, the 5th of December, 2018; but I can spark a conversation that will cause a revolution that will will be taught in history classes.
