California prisons isolate inmates in a solitary confinement cell for 40 years

Click banner for more info

Some inmates in California have spent up to 42 years isolated in a solitary confinement cell, new reports have revealed.

“The Californian legislative assembly is looking into massive violations of prisoners’ rights in the state jails,” a Russian human rights ombudsman has tweeted.

“Californian prisoners are often locked up in solitary cells for misbehavior, for example after refusing to snitch on their cell mates. Prison records say some of them spent 30 to 42 years shut away alone!”

Continue after the break.

18 Soldiers Sentenced To Death, Prisons Over Boko Haram Complicity

Click banner for more info

For their alleged links to Boko Haram, some soldiers are to face death penalty while others will go to jail. Those affected are one lieutenant, one warrant officer and 16 others. The General Court Martial   has been trying them since July 1, this year. 

They were accused of offences ranging from communicating with Boko Haram members, cowardly behaviour, murder, to manslaughter. They were being tried by the Three Armoured Division as the case fell within its Area of Responsibility (AOR).
Continue after the break.

Free but prisoners: How children born in Kirikiri prisons live

Click banner for more info

In the cell block reserved for nursing mothers and pregnant inmates at the Kirikiri Female Prison, Lagos, toddlers clung to their mothers’ chests. They observed our correspondent, when he visited last week Saturday, with a bemused expression on their young faces.

They are in prison because their mothers are inmates. Apparently, they weren’t aware of a better life out there. They probably thought it was normal to be confined only to the four walls of the prison. No friends, no birthday parties, no relationship at all with other children outside the prison walls. They are victims of circumstances and will remain so until they are 18 months old.

Continue After The Break.

Farouk Lawan, Sergeant Omeleze & ‘gate fee’ At Ikoyi Prisons

Click banner for more info

Recently, the video of a policeman, Sgt. Chris Omeleze, who was demanding a bribe, went viral. Nigerians registered their anger and indignation, calling for the head of the man. Predictably, the Nigeria Police Force reacted by sacking the man.

In the last week of July, a Nigerian-born judge in the Gambia was sacked for demanding a bribe from a Dutch businessman in return for a favourable judgment in a land dispute case. Again he was unfortunate to have been caught on tape.

Continue After The Break.

Nigeria: Local Prisons - Inmates Open Up On Travails, Triumphs

Click banner for more info

For long, so much has been said about the deplorable state of prisons in Nigeria, particularly the adverse health implications on inmates due to congestion. And successive governments have been al ccused of negligence instead of proffering lasting solution to this problem.

More worrisome is the fact that inmates get back into society hardened after serving their sentences, thereby frustrating security operatives'efforts to curb criminal acts in the society.

Irked by the development, the Nigerian Prison Service was renamed Nigerian Prisons and Correctional Service sequel to the Senate passage of a Bill for an Act to repeal the Prisons Act Cap, P29 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.

Lagos Chief Judge frees 46 Inmates from Ikoyi Prisons

Click banner for more info

The Chief Judge of Lagos State, Justice Ayotunde Phillips, yesterday Tuesday December 11th released 46 prisoners, including 75-year-old man, from the Ikoyi Prisons in Lagos during her visit to the prison.
Justice Ayotunde Phillips released 233 prisoners just four months ago after reviewing their cases during a visit to the prison in September. She said the gesture was aimed at de-congesting the prison in order to alleviate the sufferings of the inmates.

4,000 Nigerians in Turkey prisons – IG

Click banner for more info

By Albert Akpor, Evelyn Usman & Daniel Eteghe.
The Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Mohammed Abubakar, yesterday, in Lagos, said that no fewer than  4,000 Nigerians  are in Turkey prisons over drug related and human  trafficking cases.
The IG who arrived from Turkey,  vowed to fish out killers of the four students of University of Port Harcourt and those at Mubi, in Adamawa State.Briefing  journalists on arrival at the Police Air Wing, Ikeja, Abubakar  explained that  his