He added: “Before, a mother and her new born baby are kept in the
same cell, but Lizzy (Ekpendu) stopped it. Cases of kwashiorkor and
rashes used to be rampant. Babies shared cells with inmates, leading to
mothers sometimes sleeping on their babies. The babies would die. There
had been cases where babies got suddenly sick, leading to emergency and
desperate need for doctors. There wouldn’t be any doctor. The cells are
locked; the mother would be seen, banging cell, calling for attention.
The baby would die. There was too much bureaucracy.’’
Ajimitesan remembered that the most touching cases were women who had
babies in the prison, but had no family to visit them. He said that
such women used to tear their clothes and used same to make baby
clothes.He said that till date, in all prisons, including females, food is rationed. “It’s a plate per head. And whether a woman is pregnant or not, whether she had a baby or babies, that ration is never increased. The women, while pregnant, suffer hunger pangs and when they eventually give birth, they breastfeed and the hunger pangs increase.
“Because the mothers don’t eat well, sometimes breast milk dries up or wouldn’t come. Some inmates are compassionate and share food items brought to them by their families, with mothers and babies. Hygiene was zero. When I started preaching in female prisons, I forced churches, which came for visiting to bring pampers, baby food and clothes, even toys. The Prison Fellowship of Nigeria (PFG) should be thanked for always helping out.
He disclosed that there are some pregnant inmates, from rich homes. The families of such women sometimes have a special arrangement with prison authority. When she’s due for delivery, she would be taken to a very expensive hospital and after delivery, she returns to the prison to continue her sentence. The baby is handed over to family members to mind.
The prison chaplain narrated: “Lizzy changed everything in the female prison. She did something now called ‘Olomo cell.’ Mothers and babies are kept in a separate cell meant only for them. She buys these inmates’ babies food and clothes. As churches have increased in Nigeria, so also those taking interest in prisons and inmates and assisting with donations have increased. The highest participants are the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG). They are very much concerned about the plights of pregnant women and babies in prison.”
“The most traumatising, for any mother, is separation. The babies taken to orphanages are given to couples, who wish to adopt them. Keeping a baby in orphanage, waiting for the mother to leave prison after completing her sentence is not part of orphanage rules and could lead to overcrowding,” Ajimitesan said.
The Controller-General, Nigerian Prisons Service (NPS), Mr. Ahmed Ja’faru, said that male warders do not have access to female prisons in the country.
Ja’faru, who spoke through Controller of Prisons, Zone A, Mr. Joseph Usendiah, said that the clarification became necessary due to insinuations that some male warders were taking advantage of female inmates.
He said that the female prisons were located separately from the male prisons and solely managed by female prison officials. Ja’faru said that Nigerian Prisons were being re-positioned in line with international best practice despite inadequate funding.
He urged all stakeholders involved in the administration of the criminal justice system to fast-track the process of awaiting trial inmates as part of efforts to de-congest the prisons.
He explained that children from age 0-18 months are permitted to stay with their mothers in prison because such time is an infant crisis period. This period allows them access to breastfeeding, vital to their development and wellbeing. He noted that capable family members can also be permitted to care for such child.
He noted: “Every child you find in the prison is just a victim of circumstances, and should not be denied the basic things of life. In every situation, the interest of the child comes first. The crèche was set up to give the children in prison an enabling environment to grow, not minding the circumstances surrounding them.”
“They received it cheerfully and applauded the initiative. The children can now play in a different environment. The crèche was set up in the compound, but it’s a bit far from inmates’ hostels where you have activities like the chapel, pharmacy,” said Aihawu.
Aihawu, who disclosed that he has visited female prisons in England, said that women prisons in Nigeria need serious updating.
He added: “On the part of government, it must make access to justice easier for those awaiting trials and stop unnecessary congestion of prisons.”
In his part, a lawyer and human rights activist, Gabriel Giwa-Amun, agrees with Ajimitesan that sex could be arranged in prison. But, according to him, it is done for couples.
On the allegation that warders always sleep with female inmates, Giwa-Amun, who is the founder of Stephen and Solomon Foundation, which is specialised in giving free legal aids to prison inmates, said he had no record of that.
“In fact, there was one matter we were involved; we were about to get a female inmate released, when the girl told me that the woman in charge of the female prison used to take them out every evening for prostitution. I reported the matter to the judge. The judge invited the inmate into chambers and asked her to give graphic description of how it occurs. To my utter shock, she denied she never said it. Whatever you hear from these inmates on prison warders impregnating them is fallacy.
I’m not saying we have not heard one or two breaches, but the breaches are mostly in the male facilities, where the male prisoner impregnates the female warder, not a male warder impregnating a female inmate.
But Giwa-Amun said he could not vouch for the police.
He said: “My experience as per custodial competence of security agencies does not enlarge to the police. It rests with the prisons. It will be difficult for prison warders to impregnate these inmates. As for the police, it’s possible, because the rules and regulations of putting somebody in custody are not regulated like that of the prison.
“You can take a suspect out on investigation activity, to visit a crime scene and decide to stop at a hotel. You do what you want to do.
“The prisoners, who are awaiting trial, are only entitled to two hours a day, even by the United Nations (UN) approved period of release in the prisons. Those two hours a day start from 10a.m. to noon. If the person in charge of the yard decides to allow a period exceeding that time, it is at her discretion.
“You’re not allowed to step out of the prison yard, if you don’t have a matter in court or if you are not serving term which includes hard labour, which takes you outside the prison yard. A person, who was convicted for three years for example, who has been in custody for a year, all of a sudden gets pregnant, people will naturally raise eyebrow to know how it happened.”
According to him, pregnant women and children should not be in prison.
“You know, it’s only Lagos State that has a separate entity called Nigerian Prison Female Section, where you have a separate building meant for female prisoners. In other prison yards, they are all merged in one compound. But there is a very safe barrier. The male inmates cannot mingle with the female inmates, but they are in the same yard. I’m always surprised when these NGOs come from wherever they come from and they stop in Lagos, and I have always said to them; let me take you to Abakaliki Prison where you have 500 people in one small building.”
Presently, according to Giwa-Amun, there are over 100 children in Nigerian prisons.
He added: “From records, we have about 130 kids in prison yards in Nigeria. As far as we know, the women go into the prison yards pregnant. That’s why we always blame the court; when you see a pregnant woman before you, and it is obvious that she is pregnant, why don’t you grant her bail? She is already serving with a responsibility, which will make her flight risk, very low. If you know she is pregnant and is likely to give birth in three months, why give her stringent bail conditions? Especially when you know she was arrested for selling pepper on the street. So, she is there in prison, you take her to court, she is very close to her delivery time, as a magistrate, you are seeing her, yet you keep on adjourning until she delivers a baby in prison.
“When complications arise, we run to the military or the naval hospitals. A prison should have its own clinic. These women with complications, even the budget meant to maintain the prison is too low. The prisons now depend on NGOs. There was a case, where a church had to pay for the surgery of an inmate who had to do a CS. It’s not part of the budget of the prisons to look after those who are pregnant. But you see, even those who are pregnant, who have children, are only allowed 14 months to keep their children.
“It’s either you give them up for adoption or the family comes to pick them. Sometimes, you find these women refusing to give the children up. It’s very emotional but the prison service is not meant to look at emotions. We know psychiatrics in prisons who are officers, who monitor these people and counsel them. The prison yard is like a dumpsite; once a warrant is brought, we are bound to accept the person. The prison has no responsibility to investigate. It doesn’t know whether you are guilty or not. It doesn’t have to verify if the authorised signature is that of the magistrate; all it knows is that this person was arraigned in court, and based on this warrant, the person was to be taken into custody. Going back to your question, most victims of pregnancies in prisons are not inmates; they are visitors, female visitors.
According to him, although it’s not allowed, it happens anyway.
Giwa-Amun also said that homosexuality was high in the prisons.
He said: “Homosexuality is on the rise because you keep an able bodied man or woman in prison for six months, one year, of course, her sexual urge would trip in. The inmate is not dead. The next thing she would be looking for is a partner, looking for someone with a one year sentence. How do you expect her to satisfy her sexual urge? Lesbianism is the way out. That’s why I have argued that the Nigeria Prisons should develop itself in letting inmates have conjugal rights.”
He said: “The prisons personnel would only search them to ensure there they are not armed. They are even watched. When the urge comes, it doesn’t matter who is watching. When you are under pressure, who cares whether you are looking at me, you will be the one to have erection.
“I don’t believe that Nigerian prisons are developed well enough, let alone to talk about improving what is there. Let’s focus on all the Nigerian prison yards, and not just Lagos. We don’t have prison yards apart from Lagos, others are slums. We have slaughter slabs.”
Giwa-Amun said female inmates depended on NGOs to take care of their children.
“Until recently, it was being done in Lagos, including warders taking food donated to inmates. Before, when you go there every Sunday, you would see them carrying out prisoners’ food and drugs. That’s why some NGOs decided to reduce activities within prisons. We now concentrate more on release of prisoners, because the more you donate to them, you’ll see what you have donated outside being sold.
What most churches do these days is that they go to the prison, count the number of inmates there. Rather than donate raw rice, they cook and give inmates. They also give to warders. That’s why if you go to Ikoyi Prison, you will hear about ‘Adeboye rice,’ because Saturdays and Sundays, members of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) cook food for the inmates. Most of these churches want to reach out.
“Churches should concentrate more on charities like these. Most of the people who are in prison are innocent of the offences that took them there. There is a girl in prison; she had a fight with her mother after her father died. The woman started dating a policeman and together they set up the girl for armed robbery. The girl is in custody; we have cases like that. In Lagos, pregnant women and babies are well looked after, that’s why I said Lagos prisons shouldn’t be used as a yardstick to judge other prisons.
“In Lagos, women and babies get donation of pampers and baby food. The foods are brought in trucks. But this is not happening in Abeokuta, Abakaliki, Edo, Auchi and other prisons.
“There’s something I found out about the prison workers. They are psychologically defeated. They would have meeting with the minister and rather than tell him their challenges, they would shy away. They know they don’t have enough vehicles to take inmates to courts. Tell the minister about budget, how the congestion is causing it. When you know, you don’t have enough vehicles to take inmates to courts, have you ever made a presentation to the CJ? Have you said, ‘Look we cannot bring inmates to you because we don’t have vehicles?’ The prison should not be a five star hotel for inmates, but it should be habitable. Apart from Lagos State, we don’t have habitable prisons.
On his part, the Nigerian Prisons Public Relations Officer, Mr. Francis Enobore, explained ways female inmates can get pregnant while in imprison.
According to him, when a woman comes in conflict with the law, whether pregnant, old or young, the law does not make excuses for them.
He said: “They can’t be exempted from punishment, unless they are exempted from prosecution. If they are found guilty, there would be punishment. The babies you find in prison are with their mothers. Some women enter the prisons pregnant. Whether pregnant or not, we accept them into the prison. If they stay long in the prison, they deliver babies there. We take delivery, using our medical facilities or when the need arises, we refer them to government or health facilities.
“After the delivery, the woman is discharged with the baby and they both return to the prison for further care. On the other hand, you can equally find a woman, nursing a baby, who finds herself on the wrong side of the law. If she’s arraigned, the presiding judge, in his/her opinion, might feel that the woman does not need special treatment, she would be referred to prison.
“If the child with the woman is less than 18 months old, the law allows us to accept the woman and the baby into prison. The reason being that at that age, the law wants to allow the child to enjoy motherly care. At that age, the child would still be breastfeeding. If mother and child are separated, you subject the child to a greater hardship. That is the reason behind accepting the woman and her child into the prison.
“But as soon as the child gets to 18 months, the child would have started reasoning and appreciating the environment he or she is growing up, we separate the child from the mother, and give to either foster parenting or relation of the woman, but with agreement of the mother. Where we cannot find anybody of credible background, willing to take the child into better and safer custody, for training and mentorship, we refer such child to government welfare department.
“The authority is not stealing the child from her. At least from time to time, if the child is given to foster parents or family, the child could go to visit his or her mother.”
Enobore denied allegations that some women are actually impregnated in the prison.
H said: “It’s not true. The facility is solely for women. All the workers right from the gates to the last person inside the facility are all women. There is no contact at all between male and female. The only exception is when a female inmate falls sick. That is, if there are no female medical personnel on ground to immediately come to the aid of the sick woman. Then, it is only at that point a male medical doctor is invited. But it would be in the presence of the woman in charge of the prisons.
“I don’t think anybody will use that confused situation, especially with other concerned inmates around, to do anything funny with the female inmate. Lagos is the only place we have sole female prison. In other states, we have what can be called prison inside prison. It’s a separate yard, cut out, and built with heavy security, separated from the main male yard. That’s where you have female inmates. Even in those female wings, we have gates to the least officer that works within that female yard. And before you access that, even if you are the Controller General of the prison, you go to the gate and knock.
Then they will peep through the keyhole to know who is there. They’ll ask you why you are coming, and then you tell them. You know women, since they are all females, some of them could dress anyhow, the way they like. They are free to walk about. Then they will announce that a male nurse is coming in or the officer in charge, who is a male, is coming in. Sometimes it could be a male visitor coming in.
“Then, they give them some minutes to tidy up their dressing before the gate is opened. Every movement is documented. I’ll like to tell you that when we have our lockup by six in the evening, when they have taken their dinner, no male can access that yard anymore till the following day. Except there is a crisis; if a female falls sick, and she needs medical attention, there would be a signal. Like I told you, it’s usually in a confused situation, with everyone is moving about. The doctor will come, the officer in charge will be there, the female or staff would all be there. They would all be there to help in evacuating the sick woman to the hospital. If maybe, there is a fire outbreak, and there’s need for evacuation, that’s when you can open that gate in the night.
“Sometimes, when people insinuate that men have unrestricted access to female inmates and through that process they could do some funny things that would lead to pregnancy, it sounds a little weird. It borders on the very little knowledge.”
Like Giwa-Amun, Enobore said pregnant women, mothers and babies were not captured in the prison’s budget.
He said: “When we’re doing our budget, we based our budget on the number of inmates we have in our custody, at that particular point in time, and then we forecast. For instance, if in the past three years or so, we have been having an average of a certain number of inmates, we used that to forecast.
“For example, in 2023, we’re likely to have this number of people behind bars; when money is disbursed, what is normally counted is the number of warrants that you have. I’ll like to tell you that when prisoners are sent to the prison, they are given one warrant; one warrant per person.
“If a female is accepted into custody, she is given one warrant, even if she is expecting a baby or babies. The feeding, allocation for taking care of the inmates, is based on the number of warrants. There is no consideration given to a pregnant woman or babies.
“It’s true, what is needed to take care of four women, may be consumed by a single pregnant woman. We’re just hoping that as we progress, due considerations will be given to exceptional cases. When a pregnant woman comes into custody and stays long and puts to bed, there is no extra budget for taking care of the baby. Yet, the law permits us to keep a child that is less than 18 months old. If you visit Kirikiri Prison for instance, you’ll see we have a crèche.
“It was sponsored by the sheer ingenuity of the officer in charge, plus donations from well-meaning Nigerians. I think we could do more than that, to get statutory allocation to take care of these women. That does not change the fact that the prison still needs the cooperation and collaboration of well-meaning Nigerians. The fact remains that statutory allocation is very necessary to take care of these exceptional cases.
“But we have the full fledge of medical doctors, pharmacists, nurses, psychologists, who are all prison officers.”
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