Tom Chiahemen
Nigeria’s vice-president has hit out at the country’s prison system – saying conditions were so bad in one institution, inmates would leave as “animal [s]”.
Yemi Osinbajo expressed his disgust after visiting the prison in Port Harcourt, which was built to house about 800 inmates, but now holds more than 5,000.
It is estimated that 3,700 of those inside the prison are still awaiting trial – with some telling the politician they had been waiting five years for their cases to reach court, Nigeria’s Vanguard newspaper reported.
Mr Osinbajo, who visited the jail on Wednesday, spoke frankly during the presentation of a report into prison conditions across the country.
“What I saw was gory because the prison has no rooms but just serving as warehouse for the over 5000 inmates accommodated in it instead of 800 inmates designed as capacity”, he disclosed.
“From my finding, they say no room for prisoners and any human being that goes there would come back as animal”, he added.
Mr Osinbajo suggested that sorting out the system would take a considerable amount of time, but there were plans in place to improve the situation.
According to Nigeria’s Daily Post, President Muhammadu Buhari has given the go-ahead for six new 3,000 capacity prisons.
BBC
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