Abuja—The Federal Government has ordered an investigation into the riot at Oke Kura Prisons, Ilorin, Kwara State, which resulted in the death of six inmates on Thursday, November 17, 2016. Minister of Interior, Lt.
General Abdulrahman Dambazau, retd, who gave the order in Abuja yesterday, blamed the riot on the frustration of condemned inmates in the condemned prisons cell.
Consequently, the Minister directed an Intra-Ministerial Committee to work closely with Nigeria Prisons’ management team to unraveling the remote circumstance surrounding the incident, with a view to avoiding a recurrence in any of the nation’s penitentiary and to sanction any official found culpable.
He maintained his stance on the need to adhere to the United Nations Minimum Standards for the Treatments and Rehabilitation of Prison inmates, including condemned prisoners, in line with Mandela Rules.
Findings overtime have shown that such riot involving condemned criminals had been a result of frustration of being on death row for a period of 10yrs or more.
Moreover, the Minister noted that a Prison that was built in 1914, with capacity for 121 inmates, now accommodated 417.
According to him, this is bound to create difficulties in management. He said government had, therefore, embarked on reconstructing old Prisons, while also building new Prison facilities in some locations. Dambazau reiterated his ministry’s resolve to retool the country’s Prison Service to effectively play its pivotal role of reforming, rehabilitating and reintegrating transformed inmates back to the society, while ensuring that the rights of Prisoners were well protected.
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