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Securing correctional facilities

By Adedotun Ajayi

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There once existed a society which Thomas Hobbes described as state of nature. In the state of nature, life was short, nasty and brutish, everybody did whatever pleased him or her.

To address this state of lawlessness, people came together in what is now known as social contract to establish the institution of government that would regulate their activities.

One of the means set up by the government to regulate life in the society is the punishment of offenders through incarceration.

As far back as the pre-colonial era, traditional rulers in what later became Nigeria had prisons where offenders were kept. Such prisons were known as Tubu in Yoruba land. When the white men came, they established modern day prisons.

The idea behind prisons, supposedly, is to refine the inmates. No wonder, The Nigerian Prison Service was changed to The Nigerian Correctional Service by President Muhammadu Buhari on August 15, 2019 after signing the Nigerian Correctional Service Act of 2019 into law.

Owing to the nature of the inmates in the prisons and the need to provide security, prisons are usually fortified with thick walls, together with well armed and trained security personnels. This is to avoid jail breaks.

Unfortunately, the last few years in Nigeria have witnessed a couple of unfortunate incidents of jail break and unlawful release of detainees.

Available records revealed the jailbreaks at different times across the country.

For instance, at the Shagamu minimum correctional centre, Ogun state, attacked January 4, 2013 by hoodlums, resulted in the escape of 20 inmates and left several officials and others injured.

Only about four escapees were said to have been rearrested by the armed squad of the Service.

Security at the Olokuta Medium Security Centre in Akure, Ondo state was severely breached on June 30, 2013.

No fewer than 175 inmates escaped while two persons died and one warder was severely injured. A paltry 54 escapees were rearrested.

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It was the turn of the Kirikiri Medium Prison Correctional Centre, Lagos state on October 10, 2014.

Though it was largely unsuccessful, nonetheless, 20 inmates lost their lives while 80 others were injured and 12 escaped from the facility.

Similarly, on November 2, 2014, the Koto-Karfe Correctional Centre in Kogi state, came under assault allegedly by Boko Haram elements.

Consequently, 144 inmates broke free while one inmate was killed. Only 45 of the fleeing inmates were rearrested.

Security at the Ado Ekiti Correctional Centre, Ekiti state was breached on the November 30, 2014, during which an official of the centre was killed, while 341 prisoners escaped from the facility. Officials said about 77 inmates were recaptured.

Then came the Minna, Niger state incident in December 2014, when three unknown gunmen attacked and freed 270 inmates. A security officer was severely injured.

Twice in 2016, the Kuje Medium Security Centre, FCT Abuja was assaulted. In fact, the first instance led to the Kuje centre chief being relieved of his duty by the Controller General of the Nigerian Correctional Centre Service (NCoS).

Thirteen inmates had on July 29, 2016 escaped during a jailbreak at the Koton-Karfe Correctional Centre in Kogi state. The centre seems to have a notoriety for jailbreaks as it has had three incidents, two of which were this year alone.

The Nsukka Correctional Centre in Enugu state took its turn on August 9, 2016, when inmates organised themselves and broke out of their cells and 15 successfully disappeared into thin air.

Again, on June 3, 2018, the Medium Security Correctional Centre in the Tunga area of Minna, Niger state joined the train as more than 200 inmates gained illegal freedom and only 28 were rearrested.

Like Lagos and Kuje centres, the Edo centre has experienced jailbreaks and repeated attempts to effect forced freedom for inmates.

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First, in October 19, 2020, under the disguise of ENDSARs protesters, miscreants took advantage to launch a damaging attack on the Benin City and Oko centres illegally setting free 1,993 inmates, the highest of such number in history in Nigeria.

Subsequently, two other attempts were made to secure unauthorised freedom for inmates, but they were futile.

On April 5, 2021, Owerri centre, Imo state was forcefully thrown open allegedly by members of the Eastern Security Network (ESW) who succeeded in setting free 1,844 inmates, and burnt down other police facilities within the vicinity of the prison.

Authorities said the attack experienced the most aggressive use of machine guns, rocket-propelled grenades and improvised explosive devices, among others in the history of jailbreak encounter.

On September 14, this year, the facility in Kabba, Kogi state, came under attack and many inmates escaped, though 144 were recaptured.

This climaxed on October 22, when 1000 inmates at the Abolongo Correctional Centre in Ibadan broke loose and escaped from the facility.

Just last week, gunmen armed with explosives blasted into Kuje medium-security prison, on the outskirts of Abuja, at about 10pm on Tuesday, freeing nearly 900 of the prison’s 994 inmates, government officials said.

At least 443 of the 879 escapees were still missing according to Umar Abubakar, a spokesperson for the Nigerian Correctional Service.

One prison guard was killed in the attack and three others injured according to reports.

In 2020, the House of Representatives expressed displeasure at the state of the custodial centres and moved to probe the N613 billion allocated to the agency in the last 10 years (2010-2019). The lawmakers noted that the federal government spends N17 billion every year to feed inmates in 244 correctional centres but inmates still live in unconducive environments, a situation they said amounted to the violation of their human rights.

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Security experts believe these jailbreaks may get worse if strict actions are not taken.

Reacting to this, a security expert who preferred anonymity said the first step in developing a security system design is to determine the system’s objectives based on the facility’s operations, security threats, and adversaries such as inmates who want to escape and outsiders acting in collusion with inmates or employee insiders. The next step is to determine how best to combine elements such as sensors, cameras, fences, barrier systems, contraband detection, entry control, control of interior movement, procedures, communication devices, and response personnel and weaponry into a security system. “Decision-makers should use sophisticated analysis and evaluation techniques rather than a checklist approach to security design” he said

Another security expert, Moses Abolanle said to prevent escapes is a priority for Correctional centers.

“There is a need to establish and maintain a secure environment at prisons through a combination of management practices and physical security features and systems. These reflect the level of risk related to the prisoners’ security classifications.

Staff also work closely with prisoners to identify problems within the prison or outside (such as feeding and health care) so that they can be dealt with without resorting to escaping” he said

He continued “Another initiative to minimise escapes is by keeping prisoners close to home. For instance, an igbo man should serve his term in the East, same as the Hausa man in the North, and Yorubas in their region (Man in this context is for both gender) By accommodating as many people as possible closer to their home areas, they can see their families more often. This creates the most stable social environment possible, and makes it less likely they’ll feel the need to escape to sort out problems at home” he said.

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