Interesting Read On What Happened In 1997 At Kirkiri Prisons

''Sometime in 1997, Col Frank Omenka received information that a military officer who had been convicted by a Court Martial and sentenced to 7 years imprisonment at the Kirikiri Maximum Prison facility had been sighted in his private accommodation at Magodo..........

Frank Omenka did not rush to any action but patiently planned a covert static surveillance on the home of the convict.
The outcome of the surveillance which I participated was not only marveling but scandalous. We confirmed beyond any doubt that the dismissed and convicted officer was enjoying the comfort of his home at Magodo instead of being in prison.

The surveillance was extended to cover other high profile civilian convicts in the Kirikiri holding facility
The outcomes again clearly revealed that virtually all or many of the high profile convicts were spending their time faraway from the prison facility.
One high profile convict was traced to his palatial accommodation in the Rayfield area of Jos; several km away from Lagos.

A strategy was devised to re-arrest all the convicts outside the prison facility at their various comfort areas.
At the end of the exercise, 19 convicts were picked from Lagos, Ibadan, Abeokuta and Jos.
Investigations later established that virtually every top management staff of the Prison Service including, the man at the very top were complicit in the corruption that allowed high profile convicts to spend their time outside the prison.
Most of them were arrested and detained at the Apapa Parklane facility before the Head of State, late Gen Abacha ordered for their dismissal from service.

The trending Bobriski case is not any different from what happened in 1997 only that this time around, it seems some luxury apartments have been created around the prison general area instead of allowing the convicts to proceed to their private homes.
The suspension of a few staff of the Correctional Service as announced in a Press Release by the Secretary of their Board is quite laughable because I know from past experience that the few unfortunate persons cannot be the only ones involved.
In fact, if we go by the Correctional Service accounting system for inmates, you will discover that it is nearly impossible for any convict to be outside the facility or in a luxury apartment without the knowledge of everybody in the top hierarchy of the Service including, the CG.
There are all beneficiaries of the huge perks that comes with allowing a high profile convict their freedom. These perks comes in form of cash (in millions), land, vehicles, etc

Let the right thing be done if we are to forestall a reoccurrence. That is to say the sanctions should not be selective. There are more people involved in the long chain that allowed for Bobriski to enjoy the services of the luxury apartments than those so far suspended.

Written by INNIH AKPAN