They also alleged that the authority was being economical with the truth of what led to the prison riot and the number of people they sent to their early graves.
The public relations officer of the Nigerian Prisons Service (NPS), Mr. Ope Fatinikun, said that the Interior minister, Mr. Patrick Abba Moro arrived Lagos on Saturday night and was addressed journalists at the prison facility where the riot took place but many journalists punched a hole in the statement, saying nobody gave their editors or reporters any such information.
The inmates claimed that the authority is shielding the truth from members of the public about what happened and the number of people killed and that was why they did not invite journalists.
“At about 10 pm on Saturday”, an inmate who pleaded anonymity disclosed, “So many people were injured. At least I saw five inmates who were killed.”
It could be more than that. Some would have died in the hospital. The authority lied. It was not a jail break, we were protesting over the inhuman treatment meted to us by the authority. They expected us to die in silence. The new deputy comptroller of prisons (DCP) ordered that some of the items we used should be seized from us. The items include generating set, fans, pots, kettles and others items. He also banned raw food. He stopped our family members from bringing raw food for us. The food they serve here, even American dogs would rather starve than to taste it. They treat us like bush animals and that is why we protested.
“The authority said only one inmate died but it is a blatant lie! They are lying. Let me tell you the truth, nobody planned to escape and those they killed were deliberately shot, not because they attempted to escape. They wanted to quieten us but many preferred to die.
They were firing sporadically at us and we were running to save our heads, forcing those residing in the area to scamper for safety.”
Source: LEADERSHIP
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