An NGO, Citizens United for the Rehabilitation of Errants (CURE-Nigeria) has demanded for a thorough investigation of circumstances that led to the killing of four inmates at Ikot Ekpene prison on Dec. 7. In an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja, the Executive Director (CURE-Nigeria) Mr Sylvester Uhaa made this call.
According to NAN, “47 inmates had escaped from the Ikot Ekpene Prison on December 7, with the Nigeria Prisons Service (NPS) subsequently announcing the re-capture of 14 out of the 47 inmates that escaped.”
The Akwa Ibom Controller, NPS Mr Alex Oditah said, “Four of those that escaped died from bullet wounds when they tried to overpower prison officials on duty.”
Condemning this incident Uhaa urged President Muhammadu Buhari to direct the Minister of Interior Abdulrahman Dambazau to order an immediate investigation to untangle the circumstances that led to the killings. Recalling a similar incident where six inmates of Abakaliki prison, Ebonyi were shot dead by security agents in August 2016, he added that Nigerians were yet to know the circumstances that led to the killings.
Uhaa said, “The National Human Rights Commission that investigated the Abakaliki inmates’ killings was yet to make known its findings. We want to reaffirm and reiterate that prisoners are human beings and citizens of Nigeria, and as such have rights that are well protected under international law. These include the right to access to medical care, decent feeding, recreation, rehabilitation and reintegration, among others.”
He further asserted, “Unfortunately, prisoners in Nigeria are denied these rights, and each time they protest against these denials, they are treated like animals and aliens. CURE Nigeria rejected the account of the event as given by Oditah, adding that his account portrays the inmates as violent, dangerous and belligerent. The CP’s account of the incident also portrayed the prison staffers who were attacked as being innocent.”
Uhaa said, “The prisoners have the right to protest if they are illegally held in a deplorable and dehumanising condition as it is being seen in some Nigerian prisons. Citizens of every civilized and democratic society, including people in prison, have the right to air their grievances when treated unfairly and unjustly and every government has an obligation to listen to those grievances and seek ways of addressing them.”
He alleged that the account of the event by the CP was biased and one sided, adding that he did not mention the causes of the jail break. However he called for immediate investigation of the matter to establish the true picture of what happen and punish those found guilty while putting in place mechanism to prevent future occurrence.
Further he asserted that the investigation panel should consist of people with integrity and proven track record.
