General News
Senate: Why Inmates Escaped From 100 Years Old Suleja Prisons Built With Mud
…Hails Interior Minister’s Efforts In Revamping Prisons
Olasunmibo Aboluwade, Abuja
The Senate, on Tuesday, explained the reason some inmates escaped recently from the reported jailbreak in Suleja Medium Security Custodial Centre.
The Chairman, Senate Committee on Interior, Senator Adams Oshiomhole, gave the explanation yesterday while briefing
journalists shortly after a closed door session with the Minister of Interior, Hon. Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo.
Oshiomhole stated that what happened in Suleja was not actually a jailbreak, but the collapse of the moribund bricks of the prison wall, which was built over 100 years ago with local muds.
There was a reported case of jailbreak in Suleja, Niger State on 24th April, 2024, during which 119 Inmates escaped from the Correctional Facility.
The Minister had, during his visit to the affected facility, two weeks ago, disclosed that the government was planning to relocate some Correctional Centres to create better space, security and infrastructures.
Oshiomhole told journalists that the efforts by the Minister and the security agencies had helped in re-arresting some of the fled inmates, saying more would be tracked in the coming days.
He said, “I know exactly that this particular prison was built in 1914. I think that was the year of amalgamation of Southern and Northern Nigeria for about 200 people. And they now have about 419 inmates. And some of these places were built with mud.
“It was not really a jailbreak. You had heavy rainfall, a storm, and then the wall fell, and then the roof, even if you were in your private house and it is raining and you have a storm and your roof is gone and your walls come down, you will remain in the place?
“So, naturally, people find escape. The good news is that they have what it takes to retrack them. And they have already re-arrested some of them, and the effort is still ongoing to get the rest people,” Oshiomhole said.
The Senator commended the presentation of Tunji-Ojo during the closed door session, saying, “we are satisfied, very satisfied with the Minister’s briefing”
He said, “I believe he is doing what needs to be done. But going forward, we have to do what we have to do to appropriate more resources to modernize our prisons. They are made to be correctional, so they are not condemnation centres.
“I don’t like lamenting something that we can do something about. So we are unanimous that we need to, take advantage of our role, the National Assembly, for our preparation to recognize that these prisons built hundred years ago simply don’t meet model requirements.
“If you keep patching them, that is not going to do the deal. And of course, take advantage of modern technology to do what we have to do”.
Speaking on other critical issues the Ministry was working on, Oshiomhole said, “one other sad thing which is not quite right is the fact that majority of people in our prisons have not been convicted.
He said, “That, for me is sad, because of our laws, you are presumed innocent until you are convicted.
“Now somebody commits an offence, probably fights the other, and take him to prison. A Magistrate is in a hurry to remand, depending on who wants the person detained. And so we have a lot of people.
“The third element is the fact that most of the people in prison are under state offenses. And under the constitution, as amended, the state ought to bear responsibilities for people convicted under the laws of the state.
“And so if you use biased or neglect and you put people into prison, you have to spend government money to feed them there and feed them properly.
“Right now, the states are putting their mouth where they are not putting their money. Because a lot of these offenses are state offenses. The federal offenses are not up to 10%.
“There are a couple of reorganisations that need to be done. But we, the Senate, would like to go round and see people, find out.
“We find some people in prison who couldn’t afford to pay 10,000 naira fine or 20,000 naira. And the cost of feeding him in prison is much more than the amount that the Magistrate or the High court fined him.
On his part, the Minister, said the lawmakers had been fully briefed appropriately about the incident in Suleja Prisons, and possible solutions had been suggested during the closed door session, saying everything was under control.
Tunji-Ojo said, “We spoke about the root cause of the matter. What happened. We spoke about what we are doing, which I won’t be able to say here for security reasons.
“We also discussed about solutions in terms of making sure that this doesn’t happen again.
” I can tell you, the federal government is in control of this, everything is under control. Mr. President, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu is actually putting in everything through the Ministry of Interior and the Nigerian Correctional Services, to make sure that there is no reoccurrence.
“We will have a correctional center that is safe for all inmates,” Tunji-Ojo added.
Olasunmibo Aboluwade
The Deputy Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly Hon. Mojisola Lasbat Meranda has been appointed as Speaker following the impeachment of her boss, Mudashiru Obasa
The lawmakers are accusing Obasa of multiple statutory and financial infractions.
Lasbat who represents Apapa Constituency was a former Whip of the state Assembly.
Details later
Olasunmibo Aboluwade, Abuja
President Bola Tinubu yesterday said he had no regrets removing fuel subsidy saying failure to do so would have amounted to the country spending the lives of its future generations.
He also said the landmark tax reforms introduced by his administration has come to stay despite ongoing criticisms by some individuals and groups of people.
He also blamed the organisers of the recent food palliative distribution in some parts of the country that led to the deaths of some children
The President stated these during his first Media Chat aired by major television stations and anchored by Dr. Reuben Abati of the Arise News Channel.
Asked whether he regreted his decision to remove subsidy on petroleum, Tinubu declared that he stood by his action and would never regret doing so.
He said, “We were spending our future, We were spending our generations when we claimed we were giving subsidy to Nigerians on petrol. We were not investing.
“We were just deceiving ourselves. That reform (fuel subsidy removal), is necessary. I could see the small glass crashing back.
“This is the way out. The fact that we give out fuel, allow all the attacks. We cannot spend our future generations’ investment up front.”
Asked if he thinks the removal should have been done in phases, Tinubu said it would have worked that way
He said, “Please, no matter how you cut it or you slice it in segments, you stay out of the middle of the deal. So cut your coat, stick it to your side. It’s what we have to manage.
“We have no choice but to pull the handbrake. Otherwise, we are headed for slippery slopes. That could result in financial disaster, not just for us, but our children and grandchildren. Where is the inheritance? Where is the pathway to prosperity?
The President, who cracked a joke about one of his friends have stopped driving limousine cars since the fuel subsidy was removed, urged Nigerians to live within their means.
On the controversial tax bills, President Tinubu said the reform in the nation’s tax administration has come to stay.
He said, “Tax reform is here to stay. We cannot just continue to do what we were doing yesteryears into this economy.
“We cannot retool this economy with the old broken boat. I believe I have that capacity (to govern this country) I believe so.
“ That’s why I went into the race. I have focus, lots of focus, on what Nigeria needs and what I must do for Nigeria.
“It’s just not going to be El Dorado for everybody. But the new dawn is here. I’m convinced.
“You should be convinced. You (the Media) should help propagate that conviction.”
Tinubu scored high with the results already being recorded by his administration based on the economic reforms already being implemented.
He said, “When you look at the petroleum revenue, I can tell you, pushed me to my brag mode. In the last three months, I’m not taking a penny from the NNPC before I meet my other obligations.
“That’s excellent. That’s excellent. I repeat, without falling back to the old order, without going into ways and means, I’ve met all obligations.
Tinubu refused to speak on the Value Added Tax component of the tax reforms when asked to make some comments on it.
He said, “Why do you want to know that today? Tax matters are subject of debates, reviews, negotiations, not huge concessions. That’s all I’m going to say about that. I don’t mind much energy.”
On the tragic incidents that claimed the lives of many children due to a stampede that followed the distribution of food palliative by some nongovernmental organisations, Tinubu described the development as sad.
He blamed the organisers of those events and warned that anyone or groups who doesn’t have enough palliatives to give should not call many people to a single place.
Tinubu said, “I’ve never experienced this kind of incident, because you have to organize, you have to discipline, and if you don’t have enough to give, don’t attempt to give or publicize it.
“Every society, even in America, they have food banks, they have hungry people, in Britain, they have food banks, they have warehouses, they are organized, they take time to be on the queue and take turns to, to collect.
“ It’s unfortunate, we just have to learn from our past mistakes, it’s a reflection in our bus stops, where we don’t even want to be on queue before we rush into the vehicle.
“It is very sad, but we continue to learn from our mistakes. To me, I see this as a very grave error on the part of the organizers. However it doesn’t kill our happiness, but this shouldn’t be.
General News
Consider Deplorable Sate Of Federal Roads In South-South In 2025 Budget, Clark Tells Tinubu
Olasunmibo Aboluwade, Abuja
Prominent Niger Delta Leader, Chief Edwin Clark, has noted with dismay, the poor state of major federal roads in the South-South geopolitical zone and pleaded with President Bola Tinubu to declare a state of emergency on them in the 2025 national Budget.
Clark stated this in an open letter to Tinubu and made available to journalists in Abuja, on Sunday.
Part of the letter read, “As leader of the people of the South-South, I have no choice than to write to you on this matter of critical importance and pain to me and my people.
“That is to bring to your attention the very bad state of roads and links within the South-South zone where the revenue of this country come from.
“I was particularly shocked by the fact that the Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF), which returned from an official errand recently, came back with unpleasant reports of the poor state of South-South roads.
“The high-powered team attended the funerals of late National Chairman (Worldwide) of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Chief Emmanuel Nwanyanwu; former Senate President, Dr. Joseph Wayas and the late wife of Akwa Ibom State Governor, Pastor (Mrs.) Kemi Eno,
“The PANDEF, Ambassador Godknows Boladei Igali and members of the National Executive had to travel around by road and brought to us a very worrying state of affairs on the roads.
“A few examples will give you some perspectives on the situation:
Benin-Auchi Road. Under normal circumstances, this road takes commuters 2½ hours.
“At present, passengers, on the average, spend seven hours on that road. In some cases, it is so bad that travellers had to go through some rural communities in Ekiti state before coming back to the main road.
“Benin-Uromi-Sapele Road: this road which is at the heart of oil production normally takes commuters one hour. At present, its bad condition subject passengers to three to four hours for the trip.
“Sapele-Warri Road: the distance between these two communities is barely 43 kilometres but due to its bad condition, passengers now spend two hours on a journey that is normally about 30 minutes.
“Port Harcourt-Owerri Road: similarly, the road from Port Harcourt to Owerri is a mere distance of 95 kilometres which in the past commuters could arrive at their destination after 1½ hours. Sadly, with so many bad spots, this now require four hours.
“Uyo-Itu-Calabar Road: the road connecting Uyo, the capital of Akwa Ibom State and Calabar, the capital of Cross River State is about 90 kilometres. Until recently, we cover that road in less than 2 hours.
“However, due to the terrible the state of the road at present, the minimum commuters spend on the road is six hours. In fact, our team described it as the worst road in the country due to its state, more so as it is connecting two important states.
“Calabar-Obudu Road: the distance between Calabar to Obudu the hometown of former Senate President, Dr. Joseph Wayas and where he was recently laid to rest is about 316 kilometres.
“I recall, as a politician, that we use to travel in and out of this road in those days in about four hours.
“ With the current situation, those who traverse this road spend between seven to eight hours on the road.
“The East-West Road: the East-West road which connects the entire region was deliberately conceived and commenced during the time of former president Olusegun Obasanjo as a deliberate intervention to assuage the neglect of the oil producing communities.
“Unfortunately succeeding administrations have paid lip service to completing this road.
“ We note that some efforts is being made to repair sections of the road but there is not much work going and the pace of work is slow.
“It is also noted that some of the contractors do not seem to have the competence to handle the nature of work in a complex water logged terrain as the Niger Delta.
“Mr. President, I realise that resources are lean and demands are many; it is however very difficult to understand why roads in the communities that produces the resources that keeps this country going are in such a terrible state.
“It is already very sad that the Niger Delta suffering from decades of environmental damage which would take us many generations to recover from.
“So, to imagine that we cannot commute among ourselves and daily our region produces billions to the national coffers is difficult to fathom.
“At the current production level of 1.8 million barrels per day, which we the leaders of the region working with government have achieved and are still working to increase this,
“It is difficult to understand why the roads in our region should be in this very deplorable condition.
“With oil prices now at US$73 per barrel, we reckon that we are producing enough and we in the Niger Delta cannot be in this condition. What is required to fix the roads is not even up to a week’s production of oil.
“I am writing this passionate appeal to you to declare an emergency in the coming 2025 Budget and also direct your Minister of Works and its relevant agencies to redouble their efforts to repair these roads.”