Nine Kirikiri prison officials suspended over $1m scam

The Civil Defence, Correctional, Fire and Immigration Services board has suspended nine officials of Kirikiri Maximum Prison in Lagos over a $1 million scam coordinated by Olusegun Aroke, an inmate.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had accused Aroke of pulling the scam from prison.

In a statement in Abuja on Wednesday, Francis Enobore, spokesman of Nigeria Correctional Service (NCS), said the suspension of the prison officials is based on the preliminary report of an investigation panel earlier constituted by Jaáfaru Ahmed, the controller-general of the service.

He said findings from the investigation indicted the 9 personnel, including Emmanuel Oluwaniyi and Hemeson Edwin, two deputy controllers.

“The Civil Defence, Correctional, Fire and Immigration Services Board has approved the suspension of three officers and six other ranks of the Nigerian Correctional Service implicated in the alleged internet fraud suspected to have been perpetrated by Hope Olusegun Aroke, an inmate serving a term of imprisonment in Kirikiri Maximum Security Custodial Centre, Lagos,” Enobore said.

“This is based on the preliminary report of the investigation panel earlier constituted by the Controller-General of the Service, Jaáfaru Ahmed which indicted the officers of complexity in the scandal.”

The spokesman said such officials should not be allowed to corrupt the system of the correctional service, adding that “the task of correcting maladjusted persons in the society requires a measure of moral rectitude to make a positive impact on offenders in custody.”

The EFCC had earlier arrested Oluwaniyi and Edwin, for allegedly procuring exaggerated medical report for Aroke.

The inmate, who was serving a 24-year jail sentence for internet fraudster when he committed the act.

Last month, TheCable published a three-part investigation on the rots in the prison service. The stories detailed how inmates bribe their way through while serving jail terms.