Kuje Jail Break: Is there Something Very Wrong With Us? 

Medication and Patriotic Nigerians

A very close friend of mine, who shares his time between debating national issues and attending to cancer patients in his hospital, once told me that it is impossible to be patriotic and passionate about Nigeria without being on medication. He went further to identify two common illness that are likely to afflict those he called the ‘die-hard I love my country’ category of Nigerians – Acute Migraine and High Blood Pressure. According to him, this category of Nigerians are best advised to use Gabapentin, an effective prophylactic agent for patients with migraine, and Exforge HCT, a much  recommended drug for the treatment of high blood pressure. I belong to this category of Nigerians. Recent events in the country are beginning to affect my wellbeing. I am wondering whether this is not the appropriate time to seek medical advise on  the desirability of placing myself on either of these recommended drugs.  I am not unaware that for many of our country people, everyday hustling has turned most into reluctant drug abusers. Indeed, it will be difficult to find anyone living in any of our big cities who is not armed with the various types of Panadol. The physical toll on our bodies from just moving from one place to another, makes some form of medication a necessity. The mental agony of watching a country like ours so blessed with potentials for greatness, sinking in the mire of its own mediocrity, is enough reason for one to take comfort in drug prescriptions.  

Gobsmacked by Ineptitude 

The more I think about what happened in Kuje correctional facility, the more I worry that I have been in state of self-denial all this while about the mental health of our nation. Something may actually be very wrong with us. Now which part of the unfolding Kuje drama is not a cause for migraine or high blood pressure? As bad as the circumstances surrounding the jail break were, it is the aftermath that has left me gobsmacked. 

In the immediate aftermath, there was the visit by Mr President. Mr President’s visit will probably be the first time a sitting President has visited any of our correctional facilities. President Obasanjo was an inmate of the correctional centre. He did not visit the as President. The only news that came from President Buhari’s visit, was an expression of  disappointment with the intelligence gathering capacity of our security services. Then followed the flurry of visits by a motley crowd of top government officials including the echelon of the National Assembly, who collectively and individually expressed dismay at the state of the facility including ‘wait for it’ the absence of CCTV cameras.   Shockingly, the question of how an army of Boko Haram terrorists could get into the heart of Abuja, escaped the attention of the VIP visitors. So did the issue of how a facility that held tens of Nigeria’s most dangerous fellows, was poorly secured. It is mind-boggling that neither the VIPs not their handlers sought to address the lingering fear that the Kuje invasion is conclusive evidence that our critical national assets, including the lives and properties of our citizens who have made Abuja and its environs their homes, is now in a state of clear and present danger. If these terrorists could audaciously invade Kuje correctional facility with almost zero resistance from our security forces, what stops them from invading the Nnamdi Azikwe Airport which is in close proximity to the facility?

Democratisation of Mediocrity

Again, how does one respond to these very important government officials, who expressed shock at the general state of the correctional facility and the absence of CCTV? What this means is that none of the many reports on the state of correctional facilities in Nigeria,  including ministerial briefing notes, caught the interest of our state officials, the members of the National Assembly being the most culpable. We now know that none of the several parliamentary public hearings on the state of our correctional facilities, meant anything to our parliamentarians. In essence, monies were simply appropriated, without the oversight parliamentary committee caring to find out the importance or relevance of the budgeted items to the security and other needs of the correctional facility. Someone said that we have democratised mediocrity. I agree.

Reawakening of Penal Reform

I guess the only bright side from this episode, if there can be said to be one, is the renewed spotlight on state of our correctional facilities in Nigeria. At least, the feedback from the several ‘tourists’ who visited the Kuje facility, has enabled a reawakening on the need for penal reforms. This Column in a number of its previous editions, has stated unequivocally that our Correctional facilities are the clearest evidence yet that all is not well with our criminal justice system, arguing that there should be more action than talk by politicians on penal reform.  The absence of political will at the highest level of Government, has been an important obstacle to prisons reforms. Presidential interventions in prisons over the years have been ad-hoc, frequently unimaginative, and in at least one case, ridiculous. 

There was the prisoner release exercise launched in 2000, with emphasis on the prompt release of those who should not be in prisons. The Presidential Prison Decongestion Exercise that focused on providing legal aid and representation for prisoners, followed this in 2006. Poor implementation and the lack of continuity, ensured the failure of both initiatives.  The idea of ‘decongestion by execution’, gained currency under the Jonathan administration. State Governors were urged to sign death warrants, as a prisoner reduction strategy. Thankfully, the hullabaloo that greeted that idea led to its non-implementation. 

The Buhari administration, to be fair, has undertaken a number of major interventions in prisons. The Federal Executive Council adopted a memorandum by the Honourable Minister of Interior, on prison reforms. The immediate result, was the increase in the number of prisoner transport vehicles available to the Correctional  Service. 

The second intervention was the high level briefing by the Ministry of Interior to the National Council of Sates, on the role of States in prisons decongestion. Many States see corrections as the exclusive preserve of the Federal Government. They readily point to the exclusive legislative list, in support of their position. It is difficult to rationalise the position of State Governments. Most States provide vehicles and other logistics in support of the Police and other security agencies, without giving a thought to the needs of the correctional service. It seems simplistic enough to understand that effective policing may invariably lead to the arrest, prosecution and possibly, imprisonment of persons who come into conflict with the law. The prisons service is therefore, as important as other criminal justice institutions. 

The other noteworthy intervention by the Buhari administration, is the enactment of the Correctional Services Act to replace the old Prisons Act. This was no mean feat, after almost 20 years of back and forth. Quite aside from the change of nomenclature from prisons to corrections, the Correctional Services Act provides the framework for progressive interventions in all aspects our penal regime.  

Glaring Challenges

Yet, as is now obvious, we still have problems; some of which should now be obvious to those who visited Kuje Correctional Centre. The most glaring, is the issue of awaiting trial persons.  The majority of persons in prisons, are remand prisoners. Many who have spent an unreasonable long period, waiting for the courts to hear their cases. A combination of poor Police investigation and inefficient prosecution, has led to the inability of the courts to quickly process persons charged with criminal offences. 

The second glaring issue, is that of poor facilities. Majority of prisoners are housed in squalid and congested cells, due to lack of appropriate structures. Then, there is the issue of poor conditions of service of Correctional Officers. The conditions of service under which the officers and staff of the correctional services work, are grossly inadequate. The pay is poor and cannot match the dangers, emotional stress and social isolation to which prison officers are exposed. It there was any doubt about the dangers correctional officers are exposed to, the Kuje Correctional facility jail break should focus minds. 

Finally, is the controversial issue of oversight. The Correctional Services have for long been supervised by the Ministry of Interior (formerly Internal Affairs). The Ministry of Interior jointly supervises the correctional service and other paramilitary services like the Fire Service, the Immigration Service and the Civil Defence Corps. It would seem obvious to all, except the Ministry of Interior, that the duties of the Correctional Services are fundamentally different from that of the Fire service, Immigration and Civil Defence Corps. Therefore, a situation where they are treated in the same way and administered by one administrative body, will continue to militate against the efficiency and  effectiveness of the correctional  service. Maybe if the Ministry of Interior did not have too much on its plate, it would have paid closer attention to the security lapses in Kuje Correctional Centre.  

Final Thoughts

The jail break in Kuje Correctional Centre, was not the first of its kind. I guess what made this newsworthy and worthy of urgent VIP attention, is the Boko Haram dimension plus the reality that Abuja may not be a fortress after all. The Chicken appears to be coming home to roost. 

To date, there has been no accountability – no admission of lapse, no resignations, no sackings. So, after all the noise, high flying visits, speeches and photo ops, life will return to normal, and it will be business as usual. That will truly be very sad.