In the past decade, Nigeria has witnessed a disturbing pattern of jailbreaks that have resulted in thousands of inmates escaping from correctional facilities across the country. The most recent incident occurred on March 24, when 12 inmates escaped from the Koton Karfe Medium Security Custodial Center in ‘s north-central state Kogi. Only six of the inmates were caught by authorities and taken back into custody.
The incident was the fourth jailbreak recorded at the same prison facility over the last decade. Nearly 700 inmates have escaped from the facility, including around 100 inmates freed in 2012, when the terrorist group stormed the prison to release seven of its members being held there.
Reacting to the latest escape at the end of March, the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS) spokesperson, Abubakar Umar, told local media that inmates had tampered with padlocks in parts of the facility, allowing them to escape. The NCoS says it has since ordered a full-scale investigation into the circumstances surrounding the incident, and added that a security audit was conducted across correctional facilities in the country to prevent future jailbreaks.
Yet critics are quick to point out that the recurring pattern of jailbreaks in recent years reflect a systemic problem related to how jails are managed in Nigeria.
As of 2010, over 7,000 people have escaped from prisons across the country, with many still remaining at large, according to 2021 statistics compiled by the media outlet Al Jazeera. By now, however, the number is certainly much higher, as some incidents since have involved the escape of several hundred prisoners. In 2022, for example, in an bid to recover some of its fighters, while attacking a prison with high-grade explosives and guns near Nigeria’s capital, Abuja.
Overcrowding and poor living conditions
Prisons in Nigeria — — are notorious for being overcrowded and having outdated infrastructure, including some structures which date back to the period of British colonial rule. Data in March released by the Nigerian Correctional Service, the agency in charge of the management of the country’s prison system, show that two thirds of inmates are simply awaiting trial. According to statistics provided by the Correctional Service in March, out of a total 77,800 inmates across 240 prisons in the country, only 26,898 people have actually been convicted of a crime.
The high number of prisoners awaiting trial has put the spotlight on the country’s slow judicial system. The overcrowded conditions, coupled with poor treatment of inmates and lack of security equipment makes the country’s prisons prone to attacks, including invasions by and inmate riots.
But beyond that, Samuel Malik, senior researcher at the African think tank Good Governance Africa, believes the pattern of jailbreaks in the country raises questions about security lapses and insider complicity, partly due to widespread corruption in the prison system.
“Apart from the fact that some of the prisons were built decades ago and were not meant to hold the number of detainees they currently do, a failure of intelligence is also responsible for attacks in our prisons, especially in prisons where high-profile detainees are being held, like former Boko Haram members,” Malik pointed out. “And when I say intelligence failure, I mean both the collection of intelligence reports and the implementation of this intelligence report,” he added.
Malik cited an at the correctional facility in Kuje, near Abuja, about two years ago.
“It was revealed that a detainee had access to a phone with which he communicated with members of the group on the outside. Why was a detainee allowed access to a mobile phone? And why wasn’t his communication with external members of the group monitored? All of this points to intelligence failure,” he said.
Funke Adeoye, executive director of Hope Behind Bars Africa, a nonprofit promoting criminal justice reform in Nigeria, told DW that there needs to be more cooperation among security agencies when it comes to gathering intelligence and addressing some of the security lapses that make fairly commonplace. “The Nigerian Correctional Service alone may not be able to address this issue effectively. For example, we know that the Department of State Services (DSS) has intelligence capabilities. So, perhaps there needs to be better intelligence coordination among the security agencies, and even with state governments, to effectively analyze these issues,” she explained, adding that “when jailbreaks occur, it’s the society that’s at risk.”
Too many idle hands
In 2019, former president Muhammadu Buhari signed the Nigeria Correctional Services Act into law in an attempt to reform the prison system. Apart from changing the name from the “Nigerian Prisons Services” to “Correctional Services,” not much has changed when it comes to key issues, especially in terms of offering inmates proper rehabilitation and reintegration programs, the expert explained.
Adoeye pointed out that there also must be “systems and structures in place” for reform to happen. “We need systems for guidance and counsellling, mental health, vocational training and ensuring proper reintegration once inmates are released from prison. Unfortunately, the Nigerian Correctional Service needs to invest more in the rehabilitation and training of inmates, especially in rural communities,” she said.
“As the saying goes, ‘idle hands are the devil’s workshop.’ If inmates are left inside these facilities from morning to night with nothing to do, it creates problems,” she added.
Adeoye also advocated for the prison system to be equipped with technology, including a centralized inmate database that is publicly available.
Edited by: Sarah Hucal
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