The downpour damaged parts of the facility, including its perimeter fence, facilitating the escape.

Adamu Duza, spokesman for the Federal Capital Territory FCT Command of the Nigeria Correctional Service NCoS, confirmed the incident on Thursday morning.

He stated, “A total of 118 inmates fled the facility due to the damage caused by the heavy downpour.”

Duza also mentioned that the recapture efforts are underway, with 10 inmates already back in custody.

The authorities are in pursuit of the remaining escapees.

The NCoS assured the public that efforts are being made to modernize old facilities, including the construction of six 3000-capacity ultra-modern custodial centers across Nigeria.

They also urged the public to remain vigilant and report any suspicious movement to the nearest security agency.

According to Dr Shuaib Belgore, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Interior, the inmates are dispersed among 244 correctional facilities nationwide.

He made this statement at a high-level meeting on prisons and the decluttering of custodial facilities.

70% of the prisoners, according to Belgore, were detained pending trial.

He blamed arbitrary arrests, delays in the administration of justice, and failure to comply with bail conditions for the large number of people detained while they were awaiting trial.

The situation, according to the permanent secretary, has caused overcrowding at 82 detention facilities nationwide.

“The total number of male inmates are 73,821 and 1,686 are female inmates. Out of the 75,507 inmates, 52,436 are awaiting trial while 23,071 are convicted persons, with 3,322 as condemned inmates on death row.

“The Federal Government budgeted N22.44 billion in the 2023 appropriation to cater for the feeding of inmates. Failure to take action to decongest the custodial centres will come at a cost.

“The effects of overcrowding in the custodial centres have led to huge revenue drain for the Federal Government.

“Dilapidation of the centres, criminalisation of the society and the inability to separate awaiting trial inmates from convicted persons,” he said.

Belgore said there was need for holistic reform of the country’s correction system, including the modernisation of custodial centres for appropriate reformation and rehabilitation of inmates.

He said that stakeholders have since emphasised the need to build new facilities and redesign the bail system.

“I am of the view that the discourse at this conference should allocate more time to address speedy dispensation of justice to reduce number of inmates on awaiting trial.

“In as much as the Ministry of Interior works tirelessly to accomplish the goal of achieving greater reduction of number of inmates across our custodial centres, we are determined to ensure that the correctional facilities provide not just a decent accommodation.

“We also ensure that inmates acquire skills and knowledge to advance their integration into the society when they eventually regain freedom,” Belgore said.

He said that the conference should propose efficient, effective and sustainable solutions to tackle congestion of custodial centres and effective implementation of non-custodial measures.

The permanent secretary added that strategies should be devised to promote effective reformation, rehabilitation and reintegration of inmates.

Belgore said the role of the Federal and State Governments in correction of inmates should also be examined by the conference.

“The statistics ratio of federal and state offenders is mind boggling and worrisome.

“The federal offenders in the correctional facilities are far less than 10%, leaving the majority of over 90% to state offences,” he said.

Belgore said that improved implementation of the criminal justice system and adoption of non-custodial measures would help in the decongestion of custodial centres across the nation.

INEC chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, gave the hint when he received the Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Correctional Service, Haliru Nababa, and his team at the commission’s headquarters in Abuja on Tuesday.

At the parley, both organisations agreed that it was high time inmates were granted voting rights in compliance with an existing High Court judgement in Benin City, which ruled in favour of inmate voting.

As of 2020, there were about 73,726 inmates in Nigeria’s correctional facilities across the country.

The INEC boss affirmed that the commission was committed to inclusivity, including the rights of inmates to vote during elections. 

He pointed out that inmates’ voting rights have been recognised by Kenya and South Africa on the African continent, and Nigeria was ready to toe a similar path.

Yakubu, however, raised some germane issues which needed to be addressed in order to allow for successful inmates’ voting, adding that “there was need to discuss the practicalities of how this could be achieved in Nigeria.”

He said, “Let me start with the Legal Framework.  Section 12, sub-section 1 of the Electoral Act 2022 lists five qualifications for registration as a voter in Nigeria, because you have to register as a voter before the right to exercise that right is conferred. That section of the Electoral Act has at least 5 qualifications.

“Number one, the prospective registrant must be a Nigerian citizen. Number two, he or she must be 18 years of age, at least. Number three, he or she must originate, reside or work in the local government or be covered by the registration centre or the point of registration. Number four, that citizen of Nigeria must present himself or herself to the registration officer for registration and support. And number five, which is really critical to our discussion today, is that he or she must not be subject to any legal incapacity to vote under any law, rule, or regulation imposed in Nigeria.

“This is one area that we need to discuss so that we know the categories of inmates that will exercise the right to vote and I’m happy that you came with your Director, Legal. We, therefore, need to work things out carefully. We want transparency of the process. Because everything that we do in the Commission, particularly when it comes to the rights of citizens to vote, must be done transparently.”

Other issues raised by the INEC chairman included location of polling units for inmates, possibility of political party campaigns in the correctional facilities, voter education for inmates, voter registration for inmates, and observers’ access to correctional facilities to monitor elections if polling units had to be situated in the facilities.

He stressed the need to address the issues militating against inmates’ voting as soon as possible, as he pointed out that the 2023 general election was seven months away.

Yakubu said, “The sooner we’re able to address these issues, the better for the process. But remember, we have only a little over seven months to the next general election. But the next general election is not going to be the last election conducted by Nigeria. So, even if we don’t meet all these critical thresholds in 2023, we’ll continue with a discussion to see what happens beyond 2023.”

Adebisi disclosed this while speaking at the Kirikiri Maximum Correctional Centre, Lagos State, during a plea bargain session.

The session was spearheaded by the Lagos State Ministry of Justice as part of efforts to decongest correctional facilities in the state.

The five correctional facilities in Lagos are Ikoyi, Kirikiri (Female), Kirikiri (Medium), Kirikiri (Maximum) and Badagry correctional centres, NAN reports.

“In Lagos, we have a total of 8,000 incarcerated inmates in the correctional facilities, out of which a total of 6,800 inmates are awaiting trial.

“Some of these awaiting trial inmates have been standing trial in the courts for long.

“We have some who have been on trial for between 10 and 12 years,” he said.

Adebisi, however attributed much congestion of correctional facilities in Lagos to high level of migration into the metropolis which contributed to a high crime rate.

The Spokesperson of the NCoS, Mr Rotimi Oladokun, disclosed this to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday in Lagos.

Oladokun said that the inmates would be adequately prepared for the examination, despite the attempted jail break on the facility in 2020.

NAN recalls that the inmates at the custodial during the 2020 “Endsars” protest, attempted to set the facility ablaze in order to escape.

However, the timely intervention of the military, Police and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) foiled the attempt.

Oladokun said that more inmates indicated interest to further their education, having gone through several reform programmes.

He said a 60-year-old inmate was among the 25 others, who participated in the 2020 UTME at the correctional centre.

He said that the new facility, where the inmates would write the examination, had reached 80 per cent completion and the computers and other items needed would be fixed soon.

“The inmates have equally shown determination and focus to excel.

“Some teachers have been slated to take them in various subjects as well as computer practice.

Oladokun commended the Minister of Interior, Mr Rauf Aregbesola, for the laudable improvements at NCoS.

He, however, appealed for more equipment to boost inmates’ interest in furthering their education.

“More equipment is needed in the facility, to enable us accommodate more of the inmates who are interested in furthering their education.’’

InsideOjodu had on Monday, April 5 reported that more than 1,800 inmates escaped the facility during an attack by suspected gunmen.

While the management of the facility disclosed that 85 out of the fleeing inmates return back, the service on Friday further released the names and faces of 36 inmates on his official twitter handle.

“Faces of persons who escaped from Owerri Custodial Centre, Imo State.
Please note that more photographs of the Escapees on the way and efforts are on to get clear pictures for the black spaces,” the tweet read.

It said efforts were on to release more names and faces of the fleeing inmates for the public to assist in their re-arrest.

The tunnel and as many as 200 bags of earth stashed in cells were discovered at the city jail in Pedro Juan Caballero near the border with Brazil, police and government officials said.

The operation was “like we see in the movies, complete with internal lighting,” police spokeswoman Elena Andrada said, according to AFP.

Government officials said they suspect prison officials were aware of the operation, firing the prison’s director and six other officials following the escape, Reuters reported.

“It’s not possible that nobody saw anything in all this time,” Justice Minister Cecilia Pérez told the Telefuturo station. “This isn’t the work of one day or one night.”

Interior Minister Euclides Acevedo said in a statement that the tunnel itself may have been a ruse to cover complicity by prison officials and that many of the inmates may have been allowed to walk out of the prison’s main gate.

The majority of the escapees belong to the First Capital Command based in Brazil, Acevedo said. The gang was founded in the 1990s inside a Sao Paulo prison and it has extended its influence throughout the country.

Report has it that in the last 90 days Kim has helped secure the release of 19 prisoners who were doing time for lesser crimes.

TMZ report that Kim has been coughing out a lot of money to help secure the release of these inmates who have been doing time in jail. She has worked in conjunction with her own lawyer, Brittany K. Barnett, who has also partnered with
MiAngel Cody of The Decarceration Collective .

These lawyers have in the last few months, gotten all the legal documentation to get these inmates to have a fresh start to life while Kim Kardashian has been footing all the bills.

What is more surprising is the fact that Kim is doing her best to also keep this away from the media.