Many inmates are said to be dying in the custody of the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS) due to poor feeding and the high level of food racketeering in detention facilities.
The Secretary of the Independent Investigative Panel on the Alleged Corruption, Abuse of Power, Torture, Cruel, Inhumane, and Degrading Treatment of Inmates Against the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS), Dr. Uju Agomoh, stated this at the panel’s ongoing public hearing in Abuja.
She said that inmates are starving because in all of the facilities we went to during our inspection visit as a panel during the last week of February (2024), there was no food up to the approved weekly standards by the agency.
“The stock they are supposed to have for at least seven days, as is the practice, is not being implemented.
“This is about being open to knowing where the problem is because many inmates are dying due to lack of food. I have personally been going to correctional centres for more than 30 years, but I have never seen what we see these days. There have always been problems, but it has never been the way it is now,” she added.
The secretary explained that the panel aims to improve efficiency in the NCoS; therefore, transparency is critical to the panel.
Pointing out that it is dangerous to starve inmates because hunger can lead to aggression, Agomoh said that in all the facilities the panel team visited, they gathered that those supplying food to the custodial facilities are the officers in charge. Because they want to profit from the system, they are failing in this task.
She added, “First, the quantity that is provided is small. Second, this drive for profit-making worsens the process. The officers in charge are one of the checks and balances for the (food) contractors.”
Further, she said the panel will need a response from the Nigerian Correctional Service in respect of Section 14, Subsection 4 of the NCoS Act with implementation.
Earlier, the representative of the Acting Controller General of the Nigerian Correctional Service, Ibrahim Idris, from the legal department, explained that a committee has been set up at the National Headquarters of the NCoS, known as the ‘Prison Ration Committee,’ which has the oversight of going out to check the exact measurements and what the inmates are supposed to eat. He added that they are always conducting routine checks and are always on duty.
Speaking on the farm centres being operated by the NCoS, a member of the panel, Dr. Ikechukwu Ezeugo, popularly known as Consultant Iyke, observed that out of the over 12 farm centres, only a few are functional.
He also noted that even the food produced by inmates in these centres is not used to feed the inmates but is instead sold to food contractors, who then resell or resupply the same to the farm centres and other custodial centres.
He said, “The category of inmates we saw at the farm centres are not those that should be there because we saw people who are not well. Some said they have sickle cell and can’t farm, and some were underage in the farm centres.”
![Rev. Fr. Anthony Odiong, a US-based Nigerian Louisiana Catholic priest, was arrested in Florida on Tuesday for possessing child pornography, according to law authorities. The suspect is reportedly accused of many other cases of sexual assault. The Waco, Texas, Police Department announced in a Facebook post on Tuesday that officers detained Father Anthony Odiong in Ave Maria, Florida, with assistance from the United States Marshals Service. Waco police announced in March that they had received "credible information" about a sexual assault allegedly committed by Odiong in Texas in 2012. “During the subsequent investigation, a case of possession of child pornography was uncovered,” the police said. The priest was apprehended in Florida by the Caribbean Regional Fugitive Task Force. The Waco Police Department said that he will be extradited to Texas. Odiong had previously served in the Archdiocese of New Orleans before being removed as priest in December of last year due to controversy over homilies in which he claimed, among other things, that the Catholic Church was being taken over by "the gays." At the time, the priest was also accused of abusive behaviour; a Louisiana lady claimed in U.S. bankruptcy court that Odiong had committed both financial and sexual abuse against her. Prior to joining the New Orleans Archdiocese, Odiong served in at least two Texas parishes. On Tuesday, Waco police stated that during their sexual assault investigation, "the presence of other survivors was revealed." “Multiple women have come forward to tell similar experiences as the sexual assault survivor who reported the initial allegation,” the police department said. “Survivors’ experiences ranged from sexual assault and indecent assault, more commonly recognised as groping, and financial abuse, with some survivors experiencing every element of Anthony Odiong’s manipulation.” The police said they “believe there may be more survivors, and we wish to speak with anyone who [has] had similar encounters” with the priest. The Archdiocese of New Orleans issued a brief news release on Tuesday noting Odiong's arrest in Florida. The archdiocese “encourages anyone with any information to contact law enforcement,” the release said.](https://chronicle.ng/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/ezgif-6-4730550ede-450x300.jpg "Odiong: US-based Nigerian Catholic priest convicted over sexual assault")
