Quite often news about the Nigerian Correctional Services (NCoS) centre around controversies and scandals. From jail breaks to tenure elongation, another storm is brewing courtesy of cross dresser, Idris Okuneye, popularly known and addressed as ?Bobrisky?.

The latest scandal evaporated off the handle of social media influencer, Martins Otse, also known as ?Very Dark Man (VDM)?, who alleged that Bobrisky, who was sentenced to jail for breaching rules on the use of the naira, did not spend a night in any of the facilities belonging to the Correctional Services.

There are indications that some NCoS top shots kept the cross dresser in a well furnished apartment outside the prison yard while deceiving the public that he was indeed cooling off in jail.

This appears to be the mother of all mischiefs. Heads are rolling already. Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo has set up a Special Investigative team headed by the ministry?s Permanent Secretary, Magdalene Ajani.

Two senior officers, Deputy Controllers of Correctional Services Michael Arugwa and Sikiru Adekunle, in charge of the Medium Security Custodial Centre and Maximum Security Custodial Centre, both in Kirikiri respectively, have been suspended.

In the dirty revelations, there are allegations that the Controller-General of the NCoS, Haliru Nababa, was aware of some of the mess that transpired. So far, there has not been any official denial from his office. We call on President Bola Tinubu to sweep the NCoS clean. So much has passed under the bridge that if immediate action does not follow, the entire structure will collapse.

The change of name has not changed the system for the better. Since 2020, more than 7,000 inmates have escaped from Correctional facilities nationwide. From Benin and Oko to Owerri, in 2021, Jos, Kabba and Abolongo, the story goes on and on. In 2022, Agbor was affected, just like Mandala and Kuje. In 2024, Suleja and Maiduguri were not spared.

The worst happened at Kuje on July 5, 2022. Boko Haram fighters attacked the facility, leaving five persons dead and releasing 870 inmates. The then Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola, was so furious that he actually planned to sack Nababa. Aregbesola had every reason to scream. He had fortified defences at Kuje with well trained NCoS Special Guards.

Prior to the Kuje jail break, the grapevine was awash with stories of NCoS officers and Boko Haram inmates exchanging bank account numbers.

They were supported by soldiers and policemen, bringing the total to 65 security men. Twenty four hours before the attack, all the soldiers were withdrawn. Aregbesola was not informed about that scandalous decision.

Curiously, after a replacement had been contacted to take over as new ControllerGeneral, Nababa found himself retained as boss. Between 2020 and today, the Controllers General have been Ja?afar Ahmed and Nababa. The former was in office from 2016 to 2021. He was supposed to leave in 2019 but President Muhammadu Buhari asked him to remain in office.

The extension was done twice. The latter took over on May 10, 2021. Apparently because Buhari did not want a Southerner in that position, when Ahmed left in January 2021, John Mabure was allowed to act as Controller-General for four months before Nababa assumed office. At least, two Southerners, who performed better in a test to pick the new CG, were overlooked. Nababa?s predecessor has continued to keep an eye on the NCoS.

Presently, he serves as the Secretary of the Civil Defence, Correctional, Fire and Immigration Services Board (CDCFIB). Ahmed signed the suspension letters of the officers involved in the Bobrisky scandal.

It was during the Ahmed years that a jailbreak occurred at Enugu in October 2017. In his time, the same fate befell Ikot Ekpene in December 2017 where 36 inmates escaped. Minna followed in June 2018. Two hundred and ten inmates were freed.

That Bobrisky was alleged to have parted with about N10 million to sleep his way out of maximum custody further exposes the rot going on in the Custodial Centres.

The situation Is so bad that some very dangerous criminals could have enjoyed the Bobrisky treatment earlier. Prior to the Kuje jail break, the grapevine was awash with stories of NCoS officers and Boko Haram inmates exchanging bank account numbers.

The plan to storm the facility was hatched right from within the fore walls of the prison yard. To get to the root of this mess, Ahmed and his man, Nababa should be shown the way out. Custodial Centres are no longer safe for the government and people of Nigeria. They are places where money buys freedom and comfort and criminals remain in safe custody. (New Telegraph)

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