Okey Sampson, Umuahia
One inmate was reported to have died while many others including
prison warders were injured at the Nigeria Correction Service, Aba,
Abia State at weekend when the prisoners revolted over alleged partial
implementation of Federal Government’s directive on the decongestion
of Correctional facilities across the country.
President Muhammadu Buhari had asked the Chief Justice the Nigeria to
ensure that prison inmates who have been awaiting trial for six years
or more should be freed in order to decongest the already overcrowded
prison cells and to further stop the spread of the coronavirus in
prison yards across the country.
To this end, over 2, 000 of such inmates across the country were to
benefit from COVID-19 pandemic –induced federal government
benevolence.
It was gathered that at the weekend, only 10 of the inmates were
released against 70 released from the Afara- Umuahia Correctional
Centre and over 100 inmates that were released from other Centres.
This however, angered the inmates of the Aba Correctional Centre who
revolted by rejecting their afternoon meal and attempted jail break,
insisting that they must be allowed to go.
They were said to have come out from their cells and were singing, “We
want to go oh! We want to go! We want to go!” It was a chaotic Sunday
for the personnel of the Correctional facility as they battled to
quell the protest.
The incident caused pandemonium in the yard as some of the prisoners
and warders scampered for the safety.
Reports have it that it took a combined team of the officers of the
facility in the arms department and police personnel from the Aba
Central Police Station (CPS), under Aba Area Command forestall a jail
break.
It was also gathered that in an attempt to quell the protest, about
three prisoners sustained gunshot wounds while some personnel of the
Centre sustained various degrees of injuries.
A source informed that both the wounded prisoners and warders are
currently on admission at the Federal Medical Center (FMC), Umuahia
for medical attention.
Efforts to get the spokesman of the Nigerian Prison, Abia State
command, Linus Ikpe, a Deputy Superintendent of Prison (DSP) to
reaction on the incident was futile as he could not be reached on his
mobile phone.