In the past five years, Nigeria Prisons Service (NPS) has been one of the most reformed institutions in the nation.
In a visit three months ago to the Abuja office of The Sun Newspapers, Mr. Frank Enobore, NPS image-maker surprised us with facts of hundreds of inmates that enrol in either NECO or the SSCE exams every year. And many of them serving terms are undergraduates and experts in artisanship.
They did not come that qualified but the system that is fast moving from penal to reformatory arm of government is discovering that most inmates were driven into crime by idleness hence, the need to develop and engage their hands in order to keep their minds far from crime.
But because things had badly fallen apart before the rescue, much more still needs to be done from the tales that break the heart that Abuja Metro was entertained with at the Kuje Prisons.
This is no indictment on the NPS but on the entire criminal justice administration system that has not found the need to reform as fast or alongside the NPS to cure the nation of this rot.
Consistent with the rules of prison service, the inmates are not permitted to disclose their names to the press. Even their pictures we took were from their back in order not to make their faces known. That rule we complied with strictly.
Whistleblower civil servant’s 13 years detention ordeal
I must confess to you that the journey has been rough but some of us have deployed everything to make it smooth. I came to this place since 2001 or 2002 and for the past years I have spent here, the journey has been very rough and the pains have been very excruciating, but I have been doing well.
It has not been easy but I have to adapt and force myself to cope. The authorities have done theirs we have to do our own. When I came in, I decided that instead of sitting down idle in the cell, it is better to engage in something to enhance myself so that by the time I leave this place, I would leave better than I got into the prison.
We have over nine prison inmates working as tailors but the challenge is that we have only one functional sewing machine and most other outdated ones. It is obvious that we will still face the challenge of learning to cope with the new trial of learning how to use the modern industrial machines.
We are making special appeal to philanthropists and those pathetic to the plight of the prison inmates to help us with better machines to be more productive by the time we leave the prison.
Leaving the prison better
Of course, I am certainly going to leave the prison a far better person because I learnt tailoring as an inmate. I was a career civil servant before I found myself here and it is gladdening that I have come to put a skill to my degree.
It is a good one for me because I can now face any challenge outside the prison. If I decide not to work again, I can be an employer of labour or go into consultancy.
Future ahead
I can easily tell you that the future ahead of me is very bright because I have already started seeing myself making N100 million in a year by the time I leave prison and go into real business.
As civil servants, we don’t have regard for the traders in the market due to the little money we pay for their article of trade but we did not know that such is money-spinning venture.
If I leave this prison, I can decide to visit offices and make dresses for people. All we will continue to do is appeal to people for help in equipping the inmates to face the challenges of future outside the prison.
Any regret for becoming an inmate
I must admit that I was responsible for what brought me here because I wrote a petition against a government official. If I have any regret, I would say I would not have written that petition. I regret the untold hardship I have brought to my family.
Appeal to government and Nigerians
For the government, I will say that if they can deem it important to try most of the cases through alternative dispute resolution mechanism without clamping everybody inside the prison, it will be good.
The worst thing we do is bringing all manner of persons into the prison. Those that steal goat will serve as inmates with hardened criminals, leaving some of them worse than they were at last.
If government can sentence somebody to some months or years imprisonment, subject him to hard labour like coming from home to cut grasses and evacuate dustbin at the National Hospital for example and by the end of the month, they give you a stipend of N3000 that will be more humane.
The measure is entirely different from this idea of keeping inmates with minor offences together with hardened criminals, eat and idle away that usually leaves prison inmates worse than they came to the prison. There are many of the inmates, who became hypertensive because they only eat and spend all day thinking without engaging in any productive thing.
I’m victim of mistaken identity
– Christopher Mbah
Life inside the prison
Firstly, let me introduce myself because I am not hiding coming to prison since I know what brought me here. My name is Christopher Mbah, a student of National Open University reading Criminology and Security Studies.
It is not everybody behind the prison walls that is a criminal. Hiding my identity means that I am guilty of what they accused me of doing. I have no reason to regret my action because it was a mistake from government. I have accepted it in good faith. They may have planned it to bring me down but with this opportunity to further my education, God certain lifted me.
You may ask whether the interest in the course has anything to do with the place I now find myself, but I want to tell you that it goes beyond that because I have always nursed the interest of reading the course even while outside the prison.
I believe it would provide me the opportunity I have been dreaming to offer to the nation. If I combine my prison experience with the course I am studying now, I will have much to offer the society. I will be an asset if I leave here.
I want to use this opportunity to appreciate the prison authorities and everybody that gave the prison inmates this opportunity to further our education. The school is helping every of the inmates who cares to benefit from it.
We missed the opportunity of becoming graduates outside the prison but thank God for this opportunity now. In fact, the school is really a helping hand to us and I strongly believe that majority of us involved will leave these place better persons.
The academic programme has killed any iota of regret of our coming here. The authorities are trying their best in this regard but we are still asking for the help of the government to step in and offer us help.
Many people here are interesting in furthering their education especially as they must not remain in prison until they graduate. If our freedom finally comes, we can equally be coming from outside to take our examinations.
Awaiting trial for 11 years
Sincerely speaking, the journey has been a long one. Coming to prison is not the worst thing that can happen to a man but overstaying in the prison. I started this journey to prison since 2004 and I have been an awaiting trial inmate for over 11 years now. It will even shock you the more if I tell you that I even met some people here still on awaiting trial list.
Poor justice system
Overstaying in prison is the greatest challenge we face. The entire justice system is not helping matters. They went for August break since June. I went to court on June 30 but they adjourned my case till October because they were embarking on the break.
A case which is supposed to take one year to adjudicate on now lasts for over 11 to 15 years. Any prisoner who fails to comport himself could end up worse than he came to the prison.
What I have missed
I missed freedom greatly and above all my family. It is regrettable that I missed those things, but I seek consolation in the fact that some people could be in sickbed for those number of years just as some have died. Maybe God brought me to prison for a purpose.
My family used to come on visit because they have the access to do so, but I had to stop them because they were coming from a very far place since they are based in Onitsha, Anambra State. I no longer feel happy having them around if I think about what might befall them on the way.
Writing the history of his freedom
One thing I have promised God and man is to document my experience. I need to tell people my prison experiences for them to learn. Keeping the experiences to myself means depriving people what they need to know.
Stigmatization outside prison
As far as I am concerned, stigmatisation is not a challenge to me. I know how I can conduct myself to attract people to me. If I come out of prison fulfilled, without feeling that the world has collapsed on my head, I will attract people towards me. I will not feel inferior outside the prison and I want to tell you that I will be the one to choose my friends.
Challenges studying in prison
As you can see, our sponsor, the Christ Embassy Church has provided the computers but they cannot do all having provided 60 per cent of our needs. The authorities and desk officers soliciting for help from NGOs outside the prison and other Nigerians should come to our aids. However, we need government to get involved fully. The involvement of government will change a lot of things for the inmates usually regarded as rejected people. There are great men in prison.
Generally, no student studying inside the prison will get it the way he wants because there are many things to derail your mind. For my case, whenever I remember my family, the delay in dispensation of justice, such things are bound to affect your concentration. Notwithstanding this, I am targeting graduating with first class honours because I cannot spend over 10 years here as a failure.
Forgiven
I can easily announce to you that I have forgiven them long time ago and that was why I have a free mind. I have forgiven the people that lied against me, those that set me up and those that conspired against me. They are not my God.
9 years behind bars for petition against church
The experience has been tough, rough and smooth. I decided to take up carpentry instead of idling away. One of the biggest challenges we have in the carpentry section is lack of equipment. We were about nine inmates learning the skill as at last year, but they have left the workshop because there is no equipment to continue.
There are many other inmates who want to join us but they don’t show interest because of the same problem. We have competent prison officers to train us but no equipment. I want to appeal to government to come to our aid instead of spending money wastefully on certain white elephant projects.
I head the carpentry section doubling as the president of the inmates. I have always taken time to talk to other inmates and tried to be a good person anywhere I find myself.
I was a good person outside here and I can swear I did not do what brought me here. I am here because of the petition I wrote against my church and some people felt I want to remove food from their table. I have taken it up as a point of duty to talk to and share my experiences with some of the inmates.
There are many of them that still nurse anger and resentment against government and certain persons responsible for where they find themselves. I have spent over nine years, but I am looking ahead. I have also enrolled in the Open University to read Peace Study.
The good thing about life is the ability to convert opportunities that come your way. Outside the prison walls, I don’t think I would have become an undergraduate. I have not lost hope because my case is still in the Appeal Court.
Celebrating freedom day
I will certainly be excited because of the skills and experiences I have acquired. That I am leaving the prison as a skilled person, an undergraduate or a graduate should be enough to make me happy. I am now better equipped to be a state governor having controlled inmates comprising hardened criminals, cocaine addicts who kept bombarding you with one complain or the other.
I forgive
Before God and man, I did not commit the offence that brought me here. I could not escape it because of the powers that be behind my case. I can tell you that I have even forgiven the man directly responsible for my woes because I found out that he acted a script. I have forgiven everybody because God brought me here for a purpose.
I rather remain cobbler than return to cocaine peddling —Inmate
I have actually put it behind me and look ahead to a new life. I became a prisoner because of my involvement in cocaine business. In fact, I was selling cocaine before I was arrested and convicted.
Inside the prison, I have moved on with life learning shoemaking. Since learning the job, I have also trained many other persons inside this prison. I make new shoes or sandals and I intend to continue with it if I find myself outside. I will rather continue as shoemaker than return to selling cocaine again.
I was making a lot of money selling cocaine but I must confess to you now that I regret every of my involvement in cocaine business. In fact, I am ready to take the campaign to many others still involved in the business to leave it. I will discourage them from selling cocaine and pick up other businesses.
Only amnesty can save me from 20-year sentence —convicted cannabis peddler
Don’t mind the crude barbing instrument we use because it is more or less an issue of preference and choice. I have been a barber for the past 15 years and I was barbing before clipper came into the country. I have equally used it to touch lives even inside the prison where I have trained more than three persons. I currently have two apprentices.
Commercializing barbing in prison
We don’t strictly insist on inmates paying because there are some of them who don’t have a dime with them especially the new ones among us. We pay some levy for the maintenance of the workshop and use the rest to buy the tools and materials for the work.
As for how much I have missed outside, it is obvious that you cannot compare prison barbing with barbing outside. There are whole lots of differences. From the workshop we had recently, we were made to understand that barbing outside does not compare to this place where we barb almost free.
Most time, the prison officials would bring new inmates for barbing so that they can look nice especially those that came from SARS. I don’t want to begin to think about how much I am missing staying in prison because it will affect me psychologically, depressing me and making me run mad.
We are begging the authority and government to review our case. We want amnesty and we have waited for it for many years. For the past four years I have been here, we never benefitted from presidential amnesty or pardon. Many of us are here serving bigger sentence on the same offence. We have inmates that have served for some decades.
Regrets
If I say that I don’t regret the action, it means that I am not a good father because as a father of five children, I have no reason involving myself in the crime that brought me here.
I was a driver arrested in Gwagwalada while conveying Indian hemp and convicted for 20 years. I appeal to government to ensure I benefit from amnesty because I have seen some that carried higher quantity but were given less sentence.
Honestly, I regret involving myself and will never allow it to repeat itself. The good thing is that I have resolved to leave this place a better changed person. I have resolved to be a good citizen of this country. I was a smoker of the cannabis but since I came into prison, I have decided to end the habit especially now I have given my life to Christ.
What he misses
I am honestly missing my family especially my lovely wife and kids. I was the bread winner of the family. It has not been easy for them. They were living in flat but today they stay in a single room apartment. It has not been easy because they feel the pains of my action. They were coming here before but it has become impossible because of the long distance from Benin.
Advice to young men outside
My advice to them is to stay out of trouble and crime that will bring them to prison because the consequences are very heavy. They must avoid everything to bring them to prison.
No comments:
Post a Comment