Enugu Prison Riot: Plot to Assassinate Nnubia

Wednesday last week, indeed, turned out a day of terror in Enugu state and environs, as a good number of inmates of Enugu Prisons violently secured their freedom from custody. (Picture shows Nnubia who is accused of sponsoring a kidnap gang, and still being held in custody without trial)

It was gathered that well over 500 prisoners bolted from custody in the prison riot that erupted in the early hours of the fateful day (June 3). The jail break reportedly claimed lives of two of the fleeing inmates.

Perhaps, the most shocking aspect of the incident was the rape of female prisoners and staff by the rampaging male prisoners. An insider source at the prisons told the magazine that over 36 of the female inmates and staff were subjected to bouts of rape by the hoodlums. Casualties included 20 wardens who sustained varying degrees of injuries in the ensued pandemonium. Doctors, as at press time, were still battling to save the lives of the wounded in undisclosed hospitals in the city.

Olusola Ogundipe, Comptroller-General of Prisons, confirmed the jail break to journalists. Ogundipe who had to fly down from his Abuja base to Enugu following the tragic incident, stated that appropriate security quarters have swung into investigations, with a view to finding out what actually happened.

The Comptroller-General claimed that it was 150, not 500 inmates, that escaped from custody. Ogundipe, in what seemed like a rehearsed account of the jail break, also, claimed that his men arrested 130 out of the fleeing 150 inmates. The implication of this is that prison authorities are currently on the trail of the remaining 20 inmates.

But not a few discerning members of the public think that the prison boss was economical with the truth, especially, concerning the actual number of inmates that escaped from custody.

Ogundipe confirmed the rape of female inmates and staff, but added that that prison authorities were still carrying out investigations into the sexual assaults. Only one person, the prison boss said, died in the jail break.

The prisoners, it was learnt, were protesting the slow pace of justice delivery in Nigeria, a situation which has given rise to congestion of prisons and police cells across the country. But the immediate cause of the jail break was what the inmates described as discriminatory jail delivery being undertaken by the Chief Judge of Enugu state, Justice Innocent Umezulike.

Conventionally, Nigerian Chief Judges annually conduct jail deliveries in their various states of operation in the course of which they review cases of certain categories of inmates, with a view to, at times, granting them amnesty. The essence is, partly, to ensure that otherwise innocent citizens do not suffer unduly in prisons and cells.

Thus some inmates of Enugu Prisons, it was gathered, alleged that the on-going jail delivery by CJ Umezulike was discriminatory. Succinctly, the aggrieved inmates complained that while some of their colleagues were given amnesty following successful review of their cases, some others, who have been awaiting trial moments for a long time, were ignored. Incredibly, some of inmates of the prison have reportedly been in custody for as long as ten years without trial! It is, therefore, believed that the unrest was planned and executed by those aggrieved inmates.

Enugu Prison is said to be worst hit in prison congestion in the country. For instance, the first generation prison was built 83 years ago, that is, in 1924 to cater for 600 inmates. But that was, over time, not to be. At the moment, Enugu Prison houses 987 inmates, out of which 724 are those awaiting trial. What this means is that only 263 inmates of the prison have had their cases decided. The rioters reportedly broke through the ceilings in their wards from where they poured out into the prison yard. Having gained temporary freedom, the restive inmates attacked and disarmed few prison officials on duty at the time before resorting to destroying keys and locks in the premises. For final escape, they dug into the prison walls, most escaped from burrowing.

In particular, the awaiting trial inmates in G Ward commenced the jail break at about 1.30 am on the fateful day when they broke the ceiling of the ward which later collapsed and from the roof-top hundreds of them trooped out and chased the prison wardens on duty away, threatening to kill any of them who ventured to raise an alarm. Unlucky wardens who could run for their lives were held hostage by the restive inmates who asked them to say their last prayers.

From the G Ward, the rioting prisoners marched to the main entrance gate which they forced open and provided unhindered access to the fleeing inmates some of who had spent three years and above in the prison awaiting trial. Scores of the inmates, it was learnt, ran out of the prison even when armed prison guards outside the premises fired several shots into the air, ostensibly, to dissuade them.

The inmates moved to other wards including E and M to similarly force the gates open, thereby increasing the number of the rioters. It was gathered that only the officials and inmates of Ward D and the Condemned Criminals (CC) Ward who resisted the protesters. The inmates stated that they were not prepared to engage the federal government in a battle, reasoning that the fleeing inmates could be apprehended in the long run.

It will be recalled that Dr. Ignatius Nnubia, an Enugu-based oil magnate and Chairman of Nowas Group, and his manager, Emma Okoli, have been remanded in Enugu Prison following allegations of involvement in the kidnap, December last year, of Dr. Francis Edemobi, younger brother to Professor Dora Akunyili, Minister of Information.

It was learnt that the oil sheik who himself, had been awaiting trial for over six months now, escaped death by the whiskers during the jail break. Some criminals among the fleeing inmates reportedly forced their way into the prison cells of Nnubia and Okoli to attack them, but they were warded off by about ten other inmates who volunteered to protect them.

Consequently, the Nnubia family has raised an alarm, alleging that the hoodlums might have been procured to assassinate the duo of Nnubia and Okoli. The family’s allegation, perhaps, finds expression in the continued inexplicable remand, in prison custody, of Chief Nnubia without trial even when, it contends, the actual suspects that kidnapped Edemobi had been apprehended.

“We believe those people who are desperate to see that Nnubia and his manager, Okoli, do not regain their freedom, sent this group of boys to kill Nnubia and his manager in prison. Otherwise why should their fellow inmates attempt to attack them? If not for the 10 volunteers among the ATM that fought hard to prevent them, it would have been a sad story today. We think there is more to it and we want this incident investigated”, alleges one of the lawyers to Nnubia.

Although the entire armed forces in Enugu, including the army, police and the Civil Defense Corps moved in to quell the prison uprising, it was too late as most of the inmates had already sprinted away.

Understandably, indigenes and residents of Enugu state currently live in fear following influx of the prisoners into the streets. The fear heightens with the realization that most of the those who escaped into the civil society could have been the hardened criminals among the prison inmates. This situation seems to be adversely affecting night life which was gradually returning to Enugu after a protracted period of reign of terror in the state. While cautious residents now race back to their homes before dusk, people no longer sleep with their two eyes closed for fear of the unknown.

As it were, both the government of Barrister Sullivan Chime and prison authorities have thrown security cordon around the prison and some other black spots where the fleeing bandits could be nabbed. Ogundipe, the Comptroller-General of Prisons, is optimistic that, before long, his men would round up the remaining fleeing inmates.

Findings show that the last jail break which occurred in Enugu Prisons in early 2000, was smaller in magnitude.

In that particular episode, about 17 inmates of the prison were reported to have escaped from custody, even as Enugu state police command was, then, on hand to quell the crisis. It was, also, reported that about ten of the fleeing inmates were gunned down by the police. But the state police command, then headed by Mohammed Idris as Police Commissioner, denied that his men killed any of the prison inmates.