Underage inmates become ‘wives’ to adults in prison*Underage kids among 70, 766 inmates in prison

* 48, 094 inmates awaiting trial

At least 48,094 inmates, including underage are among those awaiting trial in different prisons in Nigeria.

According to stakeholders, the kids are coerced by policemen to lie about their ages and sometimes forced to become, ‘wives’ to adult inmates.

The Nigerian Prisons spokesman, Mr. Francis Enobore, who denied presence of children inmates in Nigeria prisons, said that as at May 3, 2017, inmates’ population stood at 70, 766 with 48,094 on awaiting trial. He said that 22,672 are convicts. He said that none among the categories of inmates are children.

He further said: “The prison has three Borstal Institutions located in Kaduna, Ilorin and Abeokuta. Here we keep juveniles below criminal liability age of 18 who are in conflict with the law. There are no underage prisoners in prisons.”

The Chief Executive Officer of Crime Victims Foundation, Barrister Gloria Egbuji, who visited Ikoyi Prison on April, 13, returned, feeling quite perturbed. She countered Enobore’s denial.

She said: “I was at the Ikoyi prison; I saw nine under aged inmates, all below 16 years, arrested and dumped as ATMs in prison for offenses ranging from wandering and others. They were picked during police raids. They all were crying; they didn’t even know their offenses. They had one thing in common; poverty! When they couldn’t meet their bail conditions, which ranged between N5000 and N20, 000, they were dumped there. Some don't even have home addresses. They said they live in shanties. I was in tears. They have no one to help them, especially since their so called crime cannot be found in the Criminal Codes. Police please help us and stop these senseless arrests of innocent children.”

While lampooning police for forcing the boys to lie about their ages, Egbuji suggested that some of the money recovered by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, the EFCC, should be used to assist some inmates, especially kids on awaiting trial.

A human right activist, Pastor Darlington Ajitemisan, who has been involved in the prison ministry for over 30 years, buttressed Egbuji’s allegation.

He said: “Underage inmates in Ikoyi prison with adults is true and a real violation of rules. Inmates under 18 must not be kept with adults or taken to adult prisons. They are often used as ‘wives’ by adult inmates. It is, however, not the fault of prison authority, but policemen, who forced these kids to lie about their ages.”

A secondary school boy, Bashua 16, told how he was raided in 2014 by policemen around Victoria Island, while returning from a coaching class. He said he didn’t know his crime. He was arraigned and remanded in Kirikiri prison. Before help came his way through Stephen and Solomon Foundation, a nongovernmental organization, handling criminal cases on pro-bono bases, Bashua has been sodomised by adult inmates.

Bashua said: “I was remanded at the Kirikiri Prison and experienced being locked with over 100 inmates who were several times older than me. I was molested sexually. I was raped several times in a day. They would tell me not to cry. I was in remand for one month and those days were hell for me.”
Speaking on factors that give rise to congestion and large numbers of awaiting trial, Enobore said: “The Prison is primarily meant to reform and rehabilitate offenders but the problem of congestion of inmates has continued to be the bane of these objectives. This is almost exclusive to the pre-trial detainees, a population that consists largely of those charged with capital offences. It is also limited to prisons located in urban centres.”

Stating some reasons for prison congestion, Enobore said: “Trial process in court is very slow and most state governments are yet to implement the recently passed Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) 2015 that would have ensured speedy trial process. The Act also provides for use of non-custodial sentencing options which would have reduced influx of persons into the prison. There’s also inadequate legal representation and inadequate pro bono services for indigent prisoners. And, frequent adjournment of cases to mention, but a few.”