Residents flee, as prisoners protest poor meals

Residents of Ukpa town will not forget in a hurry recent threat to the peace of the community, following protest by inmates of Afikpo prison in Afikpo North Local Government Area of Ebonyi State.

What almost became a jailbreak was foiled after the inmates protested against the poor quality of food prisons officials had been serving them. But for quick response by military and police personnel, who following a distress call stormed the area, the situation might have spiraled out of control.

One resident of the town, who identified himself as Sunday, said people, especially those who live close to the prison, fled from their homes and hid in bushes. “We did not sleep in our homes that night for fear of being attacked. It was very serious. I took my wife and two-month-old son and hid them in the bush. We thought it was a jailbreak but in the morning we learnt they were protesting against poor food quality,” he said.

The Guardian learnt the prisoners believed the Federal Government was investing huge sums of money for their welfare and wondered why this was not translating into good meals on their plates. After a serving of what the inmates said was low quality rice, despite several complaints to prison officials, their anger boiled over.

It was learnt that the inmates broke the fence that housed them and came out hurling stones and other dangerous objects. They put prison officials to flight, and allegedly assaulted female inmates sexually.

The state Police Public Relations Officer, ASP George Okafor, said: “Yes, there was a little problem in the Afikpo prisons, which would have resulted in jailbreak but it was aborted by police response, as we cordoned of the area.”

A source, who did not want his name in print, said the Federal Government approves N970,000 weekly for feeding of the inmates. He accused some officials of the prisons of inciting the inmates against the management. According to him, some top officials are not happy with the massive transfer of indigenous staff from the area.

One senior prison official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the prison authority is surprised the inmates had been planning the protest for months without anyone getting wind of the matter. He called for urgent steps to address the situation, to forestall a jailbreak.

“If these inmates were able to plan this protest secretly for months and execute it without our knowledge, one day they will plan a jail break and none of us will be aware,” he said.

He said that he was not aware the Federal Government was paying N970,000 weekly to feed the inmates but admitted the quality of food was poor. He stressed that though normalcy has returned to the prison complex, government needs to beef up security and do a turn around maintenance of decayed facilities.

“Committees have been set up to look into the cause of the protest. We have also started proper orientation of the inmates and hope such does not repeat itself again,” he said.

sourced: the guardian