By Nathaniel Zaccheaus, Abuja
The Senate has explained why some inmates escaped recently from the reported jailbreak in Suleja Medium Security Custodial Centre.
The Chairman, Senate Committee on Interior, Senator Adams Oshiomhole, gave the explanation yesterday while briefing journalists shortly after a closed door session with the Minister of Interior, Hon. Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo.
Oshiomhole stated that what happened in Suleja was not actually a jailbreak, but the collapse of the moribund bricks of the prison wall, which was built over 100 years ago with local muds.
There was a reported case of jailbreak in Suleja, Niger State on 24th April, 2024, during which 119 Inmates escaped from the Correctional Facility.
The Minister had, during his visit to the affected facility, two weeks ago, disclosed that the government was planning to relocate some Correctional Centres to create better space, security and infrastructures.
Oshiomhole told journalists that the efforts by the Minister and the security agencies had helped in re-arresting some of the fled inmates, saying more would be tracked in the coming days.
He said, “I know exactly that this particular prison was built in 1914. I think that was the year of amalgamation of Southern and Northern Nigeria for about 200 people. And they now have about 419 inmates. And some of these places were built with mud.
“It was not really a jailbreak. You had heavy rainfall, a storm, and then the wall fell, and then the roof, even if you were in your private house and it is raining and you have a storm and your roof is gone and your walls come down, you will remain in the place?
“So, naturally, people find escape. The good news is that they have what it takes to retrack them. And they have already re-arrested some of them, and the effort is still ongoing to get the rest people,” Oshiomhole said.
The Senator commended the presentation of Tunji-Ojo during the closed door session, saying, “we are satisfied, very satisfied with the Minister’s briefing”
He said, “I believe he is doing what needs to be done. But going forward, we have to do what we have to do to appropriate more resources to modernize our prisons. They are made to be correctional, so they are not condemnation centres.
“I don’t like lamenting something that we can do something about. So, we are unanimous that we need to take advantage of our role, the National Assembly, for our preparation to recognize that these prisons built hundred years ago simply don’t meet model requirements”.
Speaking on other critical issues the Ministry was working on, Oshiomhole said, “one other sad thing which is not quite right is the fact that majority of people in our prisons have not been convicted.
He said, “That, for me is sad, because of our laws, you are presumed innocent until you are convicted.
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On his part, the Minister, said the lawmakers had been fully briefed appropriately about the incident in Suleja Prisons, and possible solutions had been suggested during the closed door session, saying everything was under control.
Tunji-Ojo said, “We spoke about the root cause of the matter. What happened. We spoke about what we are doing, which I won’t be able to say here for security reasons.
“We also discussed about solutions in terms of making sure that this doesn’t happen again.
” I can tell you; the federal government is in control of this, everything is under control. Mr. President, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu is putting in everything through the Ministry of Interior and the Nigerian Correctional Services, to make sure that there is no reoccurrence.
“We will have a correctional centre that is safe for all inmates,” Tunji-Ojo added.
