Nigerian prison officials sneak inmate convicted of rape out of Ebonyi facility, accompany him ‘to have sex at lover’s place’

SAHARA REPORTERS

Officials of Afikpo Correctional Centre in Ebonyi State recently took an inmate out of the facility illegally to see his girlfriend for conjugal visit, SaharaReporters has gathered.

The inmate is identified as Ibuchi Okoro Eze.

According to a source in the facility, Ibuchi, the inmate was sentenced to prison after he was convicted of rape. 

The inmate was taken out of the facility on Saturday, September 14 to a bar managed by his girlfriend.

A picture of Ibuchi’s sitting at his lover’s bar where he was taken to was also obtained by SaharaReporters.

“A rapist inmate that still has more than a year in here was taken outside the prison to meet his girlfriend for conjugal visit,” the source told SaharaReporters.

“It happened on September 14 outside the yard. His name is Ibuchi and the bar is also here in Afikpo. This wasn’t the first time something like this would happen, that inmates would be allowed to go out of the facility illegally. Some even go to clubs and spend the night out of the facility.

“Only Afikpo people who were recruited and have stayed in this facility all their lives are allowed to do this dirty work with them, so that their secret will not be revealed.

“There are warders who collect money from these inmates to allow them to leave the facility anytime they want. 

“For Ibuchi, after paying them that day, they forced some junior officers to take him outside the facility to meet his girlfriend. She has a bar she’s managing not too far from the prison. 

“When they got there, he told them he wanted to have sex with the lady and that he should be allowed to see her privately in a room. One of the personnel kicked against it but Ibuchi called a superior officer who said he should be allowed but warned the officers to be at alert and ensure his return to prison.”

SaharaReporters’ attempts to contact Umar Abubakar, spokesman for the Nigerian Correctional Service, were met with silence. Calls, texts, and WhatsApp messages went unreturned at the time of reporting.

Allegations of corruption, extortion and cover-ups have continued to trail NCoS nationwide.

In a report by The ICIR in 2022, a suspended police chief, Abba Kyari, alleged he was forced to pay for cable TV for other inmates as a form of protection.

Kyari’s lawyer, Nureini Jimoh, who filed for a review of his bail application, said his client was being subjected to harsh conditions.

Also, the son of a former minister in the FCT was also alleged to have paid about N500,000 to officers of the NCoS to secure a suitable withholding cell.

Also, in 2017, an inmate serving a three-year jail term in Kuje Prison, Ifeanyi Ezenwa, was able to mastermind a multi-million fraud from incarceration.

The ICIR further reported that corrupt officials of the NCoS aid visitors by smuggling mobile phones and cannabis into the facility for a fee.

A report by Amnesty International also revealed that medical and welfare provisions were only available to those who could pay bribes to prison officials.

THIS STORY FIRST APPEARED IN SAHARA REPORTERS