25th August, 2014
Eromosele Ebhomele
Nigerian human rights lawyer, Femi Falana (SAN), has accused the Federal Government of toying with the lives of prisoners across the country.
Falana also called on the National Human Rights Commission, NHRC, to commence immediate investigation of the alleged killings of some of the prisoners he listed in a statement he made available to P.M.NEWS, saying this should be done with a view to compensating the families of the victims.
“As the Minister of Interior, Mr. Abba Moro, has failed to ensure the provision of adequate medical facilities in the prisons, we request the National Human Rights Commission to investigate the illegal killing of convicts and awaiting trial inmates in prison custody in Nigeria.
“The Commission may wish to recommend the payment of exemplary damages to the families of prison inmates who had lost their lives on account of medical neglect and the trial of all public officers whose negligence has contributed to the killing of prison inmates,” he urged.
Recalling some of the deaths recorded as a result of the negligence of prison officers, the inhumane nature of some judges as well as the insensitivity of the government, Falana als cited several legal decisions and laws to argue in favour of his complaint.
Falana, who noted that in the last three years, prisoners have been killed by terrorists who storm prisons to free their colleagues, further recalled that on 18 January, 2014, Mr. Hamani Tidjani, a prison inmate died at the Kirikiri Maximum Security prison in Lagos, adding that the deceased, who was suffering from partial stroke, was not given any medical attention by the prison authorities.
Tijani was a citizen of Niger Republic who was arrested in Cotonou, Benin Republic and brought to Nigeria in September 2003 for investigation and trial over trans-border armed robberies and allied criminal offences.
He was convicted by an Ijebu Ode High Court in 2011 for receiving stolen goods and sentenced to a 10-year jail term.
Falana, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, noted that though the deceased completed the sentence, he was not released from prison custody as he was standing trial for similar offences in the Lagos High Court.
According to the lawyer, “in the last one year or thereabouts, four other convicted prisoners, namely Messrs Ganiyu Adeniyi, Dauda Akanbi, Thomas Odafe and Ariyo Osisanya had died in the same prison on account of medical neglect.
“From the information at our disposal the killing of prison inmates through medical neglect is not uncommon in all other prisons in the country.
“For instance, Mr. Toyese Kehinde, who had served a month jail term for his inability to pay a fine of N5,000 for an environmental offence, died at the Benin prison on September 20, 2013. The said Mr. Kehinde was illegally detained after the completion of his sentence.
“A week later, a 21-year old undergraduate of the University of Benin, Ibrahim Momodu, also died in the Benin Prison. Another inmate, James Oglesby had died last year after he was beaten by two other prisoners inside the prison’s recreation yard.
“In a similar vein, Mr. Sunday Akinyemi, who was standing trial for conspiracy and stealing of funds belonging to his own company, also died in December, 2012.
“In that case, the Honourable Justice E.A. Adebajo (now retired) of the Lagos High Court had refused to allow the applicant who was standing trial before him to travel abroad at his own expense to treat cancer of the colon which was diagnosed by the military hospital, Ikoyi and confirmed by the Lagos University Teaching Hospital while he was undergoing trial before the judge.
“When the health condition of the defendant became critical our law firm requested the Ikoyi prison management to either treat him or release him for treatment.”
Continuing, Falana said: “as the request was turned down, we applied to the Federal High Court for the enforcement of the fundamental right of the detainee to life.”
He said prisoners are entitled to all the fundamental rights guaranteed to other citizens save the right to personal liberty and freedom of movement, citing Appeal and Supreme Courts ruling to back up his argument.
“Since the prisons are not well secured the Federal Government is vicariously liable for the premature death of such prison inmates.
“More worrisome is the fact that several prison inmates who are terminally ill may soon die due to lack of medical attention by the prison authorities. It is hoped that all measures are being put in place to keep the highly infectious Ebola virus away from the prisons,” he said.