The Criminalization Of Inmates In Nigerian Police Cells/Prisons

 The Criminalization Of Inmates In Nigerian Police Cells/Prisons Crime is bad and punishable by law and should be abhorred by every right th...

 The Criminalization Of Inmates In Nigerian Police Cells/Prisons

Crime is bad and punishable by law and should be abhorred by every right thinking being. Regrettably however, the Nigerian Police Cell is worse than crime against humanity. Given the role a cell or even a prison plays as a rehabilitation center for culprits, it is no wonder then the treatment of this particular concern which appears long overdue. Criminality most certainly, does no good to any given society in all intent. Therefore, it should be totally frowned at. That Nigeria is fantastically corrupt is known far and beyond. It is a country founded by Britain on corruption purposely for self interest.

In the United States of America for instance, such an institution is referred to as a correctional facility because essentially, it's function is not just to punish but rather, to act as a check and balance mechanism between the four main purposes vis-a-vis retribution, rehabilitation, deterrence and incapacitation. 

Apart from incapacitation which is reserved for people that are a danger or threat to life such as terrorists, the rest are geared towards making an individual a societal blessing. It is annoying and bad enough therefore, that the Nigerian cell/prison is not just disgusting and dehumanizing but despicable to the poor and innocent citizens  who are solely subjected to torture while terrorists and corrupt politicians get their passes.

In recent findings and investigations, Family Writers Press International has been able to ganner some pictorial evidences of the gory look of Nigerian prisons, the inhuman and tortuous stacking of prisoners therein. It is really devastating!

The Nigerian Police and Prison Services like most Nigerian institutions, are colonial creations that have undergone virtually no reform since inception but instead, are swimming in torrent of extortion, torture and abuse. Police officers and Prison warders who are poorly trained and equipped usually dish out extrajudicial treatments, concoct allegations and incriminate inmates who are not able to pay demanded fees. It is common place to see dilapidated infrastructures littering the entire landscape that is housing both the officials and inmates. Statistical evidences show that in Europe (including the United Kingdom) and the United States of America, there is no cell or prison room that takes more than two inmates. The stacking of inmates not only robs them of their dignity, it increases the chances of contracting infectious diseases, amongst others.  

The facts remain that many are being illegally detained in various police stations across Nigeria for years unending, without any court trial and with no hope of ever making it alive. This is the kind of country we unfortunately found ourselves. Recently, Rudy Rochman (and his team), who were in Biafraland to shoot a documentary titled: “We Were Never Lost”, were forcibly incarcerated and tortured unlawfully. If such a system could deny justice even to foreign citizens with ways and means, consider what the people from a certain part of the country where tribal sentiment is all and everything, have had to go through.

Oh God, will help us!

Written by Sunday Chukwuebuka Okafor

Edited by Chibueze Daniel

For Family Writers Press International