Inmates of the Sapele Correctional Centre, Delta
State, on Monday allegedly set a building and offices on fire while protesting
alleged ill-treatment and neglect by the authorities of the prison and the state
judiciary.
Among the several vexed issues that reportedly
boiled over yesterday were an allegation that only three out of the about 150
inmates recently granted an official pardon by the state Chief Judge, Justice,
Marshal Umukoro, were picked from the Sapele centre, thereby still leaving the
centre congested.
The inmates, it was gathered, also complained of
poor feeding and alleged that some inmates awaiting trial had not been taken to
court in nearly two years by the respective prosecuting units.
Although, there were initial fears of a possible
jailbreak following the protest, it was learnt that none of the inmates
escaped during the ensuing pandemonium because of the timely deployment of the police
and military personnel to the scene until the situation was brought under
control.
The armed security personnel took position outside
the prison gates and walls till the arrival of the Delta State Comptroller of
Correctional Centres, the Police Area Commander in Sapele, the Sapele Divisional
Police Officer (DPO) and the chairman of Sapele Local Government Area.
Men of the state Fire Service were joined by those
of the Seplat Fire Service in Sapele to extinguish the fire, though at least
three offices in one of the buildings in the centre suffered significant
damage.
However, the state police command has debunked
social media reports of a jailbreak in Sapele, noting that normalcy had been
restored after the incident.
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