Many inmates are said to be dying in the custody of the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS) due to poor feeding and the high level of food racketeering in detention facilities.

The Secretary of the Independent Investigative Panel on the Alleged Corruption, Abuse of Power, Torture, Cruel, Inhumane, and Degrading Treatment of Inmates Against the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS), Dr. Uju Agomoh, stated this at the panel’s ongoing public hearing in Abuja.

She said that inmates are starving because in all of the facilities we went to during our inspection visit as a panel during the last week of February (2024), there was no food up to the approved weekly standards by the agency.

“The stock they are supposed to have for at least seven days, as is the practice, is not being implemented.

“This is about being open to knowing where the problem is because many inmates are dying due to lack of food. I have personally been going to correctional centres for more than 30 years, but I have never seen what we see these days. There have always been problems, but it has never been the way it is now,” she added.

The secretary explained that the panel aims to improve efficiency in the NCoS; therefore, transparency is critical to the panel.

Pointing out that it is dangerous to starve inmates because hunger can lead to aggression, Agomoh said that in all the facilities the panel team visited, they gathered that those supplying food to the custodial facilities are the officers in charge. Because they want to profit from the system, they are failing in this task.

She added, “First, the quantity that is provided is small. Second, this drive for profit-making worsens the process. The officers in charge are one of the checks and balances for the (food) contractors.”

Further, she said the panel will need a response from the Nigerian Correctional Service in respect of Section 14, Subsection 4 of the NCoS Act with implementation.

Earlier, the representative of the Acting Controller General of the Nigerian Correctional Service, Ibrahim Idris, from the legal department, explained that a committee has been set up at the National Headquarters of the NCoS, known as the ‘Prison Ration Committee,’ which has the oversight of going out to check the exact measurements and what the inmates are supposed to eat. He added that they are always conducting routine checks and are always on duty.

Speaking on the farm centres being operated by the NCoS, a member of the panel, Dr. Ikechukwu Ezeugo, popularly known as Consultant Iyke, observed that out of the over 12 farm centres, only a few are functional.

He also noted that even the food produced by inmates in these centres is not used to feed the inmates but is instead sold to food contractors, who then resell or resupply the same to the farm centres and other custodial centres.

He said, “The category of inmates we saw at the farm centres are not those that should be there because we saw people who are not well. Some said they have sickle cell and can’t farm, and some were underage in the farm centres.” (The Guardian)