How 32 inmates died in Lagos prison – Controller

The Lagos State controller of prison, Mr Olumide Tinuoye, has attributed the death of 32
prison inmates who died in one year in a particular prison in the state to their inability to access funds for good medication.

Tinuoye, however, did not mention the affected prison.

This was coming as the State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr Adeniji Kazeem
disclosed that the government has set up a committee led by the Director, Office of the Public Defender, OPD, Mrs Salami to review the cases of awaiting trials with a view to ensure that inmates don't continue to stay in prison unjustly or die in the process of waiting for trial.

Decrying the appalling state of health facilities in the prisons he noted that often times, prison officials use their personal money to buy drugs for the inmates, while others live on the philanthropic gestures of churches and mosques which have been assisting in providing medications for the inmates.

The controller of prisons made the revelations when the Prerogative of Mercy Committee led by the State Attorney General visited the Ikoyi and Kirikiri prisons on a fact finding mission to access and have a first-hand information of the conditions under which the inmates live.

Apart from fact finding mission, the visit was to determine what measures could be put in place to improve the condition of the prisons in the state.

Tinuoye, who expressed his appreciations for the fact finding mission, noted the prisons also lost one female inmate to death last month after being on dialysis for over two years.

He stated that there are 7,714 inmates in all the prisons across the state, with 6,047 awaiting trial, 1,390 convicted, 202 already condemned while 75 are serving life sentences.According to him, Ikoyi prisons which has a capacity of 800 presently has a total of 2,508 inmates, 461 of which are convicted and 2,047 while Kirikiri Medium prisons with a capacity of 1,700 has 2,979 inmates out of which 2,634 are awaiting trials while 345 are convicted inmates.