At least 12 inmates at the Nigerian Correctional Services (NCS) Medium Security Custodial Centre in Keffi, Nasarawa State, died of a strange illness allegedly caused by poor nutrition in September 2024, multiple sources told SaharaReporters.

The incident was alleged to have been covered up by top officials of the facility.

A source who spoke to SaharaReporters linked the death of the inmates to hunger, poor nutrition and unhygienic environment.

The source added that some of the deceased were beaten and injured by the warders and not treated until their conditions deteriorated.

The Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, in June said a total of 750 inmates were being held at Keffi Medium Security Custodial Centre, which has a capacity for 340 inmates.

Of the 750 inmates, 605 of them were awaiting trial, he added.

“Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Femi Falana’s recent testimony about cross-dresser Bobrisky’s request for N3 million from his son to secure a special unit of the prison, when he was in prison, should now tell you more about the corruption in the system,” an official of the facility told SaharaReporters.

“The leadership of the correctional service, driven by illicit financial gains, also together with contractors divert inmates’ feeding allocation for themselves, making inmates to keep dying of hunger-related complications all the time. Some died after being beaten by warders as well.

“And when what they get from all these don’t satisfy them, they look for means to exploit subordinate staff members,” he added while describing the incident as a consequence of corruption.

Another official said, “It is not a new story to say that inmates are poorly fed. Last month, 12 prisoners died of hunger-related complications, poor nutrition and their bodies were deposited in the mortuary at the Federal Medical Centre, Keffi.

“I don’t know if any of the bodies had been claimed yet from the mortuary but I was privy to the fact that that number of people died last month. The deaths could be more cause all those ones died while I was on duty and others may have died while I was off.

“One of the inmates who died during the last weekend of September, his body was taken to the hospital, but it was rejected as the mortuary management claimed that there was no more space. However, a senior official took some personnel with him and buried the body, which is a very wrong thing to do because relatives of every prisoner are supposed to be informed of their deaths to claim their body.

“That wasn’t the first time such an act would be happening, when inmates were buried without informing their relatives. However, I learnt the new officer in charge, Alhaji Thomas, wasn’t happy about the decision by the senior officials to bury the body quietly and illegally. The officer in charge travelled that weekend and he was not informed about the rejection of the body of the dead by mortuary management until it was buried.

“It’s a matter of law that the prison authority can only bury a prisoner who died in prison after the body is not claimed by the relatives. And since they are in the mortuary now, I think what will happen to the bodies is at the discretion of the government and hospital management. If the bodies are not claimed by their relatives… this is why hospitals sometimes reject them.

“It is because of these frequent deaths. About 13 inmates were set free on health ground – a health status they came to acquire in the prison.”

When contacted by SaharaReporters, the officer in charge of the facility, Alhaji Thomas said nothing of such happened in the facility.

“There’s no truth in that. Thank you,” he said.

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