‘No plan to transfer Kuje Prison inmates’

AUGUST 10, 2013  

Controller-General of Prisons, Mr. Zakari Ibrahim

The Nigeria Prison Service has said it has no plan to transfer any of the inmates that participated in the protest at Kuje Prison, Abuja on Thursday.

The service said the incident at the facility had been settled and would therefore not take any action against either the inmates or any staff member.

A protest had broken out at the facility following alleged preferential treatment given to three Hezbollah terror suspects, who were allowed to use a particular part of the premises for their Eid-el-fitri prayers.

Other inmates led by some Boko Haram members were said to have kicked against the arrangement and insisted on using the section allocated to the Hezbollah terror suspects.

They protested the decision of the prison authorities, which led to a near breakdown of order.

But the Prisons Public Relations Officer, Mr. Ope Fatinikun, downplayed the incident, which he said had been settled.

He explained that the Comptroller-General of Prisons,  Zakari Ibrahim, has powers to transfer inmates from one prison to another or redeploy prison personnel, but he would not do so in the instant case.

According to him, the service will always maintain discipline among inmates and officials, adding that the NPS did not give VIP treatment to any inmate and neither did it discriminate against inmates.

Fatinikun said, “Contrary to reports in the media, the incident was not caused by preferential treatment to some class of inmates because the Nigeria Prison Service does not discriminate against any inmate or give preferential or VIP treatment to any group or category of inmates; All inmates are treated equally and fairly.

“On the issue of transfer that you raised, while the CGI has the power to transfer any inmate and prison official from one prison to another across the country, he has no plan whatsoever to transfer any inmate or official at the Kuje Prison.”