By Our Correspondent | National News
The Federal Government has intensified efforts to curb criminal activities originating from Nigeria’s correctional facilities, sanctioning 147 officers of the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS) over contraband-related offences as authorities move to dismantle prison-based crime networks.
The action follows growing concerns over reports that some inmates have continued to coordinate kidnapping, internet fraud, extortion, fake bank alert scams and other criminal activities from inside custodial centres using smuggled mobile phones and other prohibited items.
Controller-General of Corrections, Sylvester Nwakuche, disclosed that the service recently confiscated and destroyed 1,167 mobile phones recovered from correctional facilities across the country. The seized items also included SIM cards, phone chargers and cash, which investigators said were being used to facilitate criminal operations.
Nwakuche said the Nigerian Correctional Service had established special anti-contraband teams to strengthen intelligence gathering and enforcement within custodial centres, warning that inmates, officials and external collaborators found aiding illegal activities would face prosecution.
The crackdown comes amid several high-profile cases in which inmates were allegedly linked to criminal activities despite being in custody.
One such case involved an inmate at the Oko Correctional Centre in Edo State, who was reportedly traced by investigators after allegedly sending death threats and extortion messages to a resident of Benin City.
Authorities have also continued investigations into allegations surrounding the Warri Medium Security Custodial Centre, where inmates were accused of temporarily leaving custody to participate in robbery and kidnapping operations before returning to the facility. The Delta State Command of the NCoS denied the allegations, while the Minister of Interior ordered a comprehensive investigation.
In another widely reported case, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) uncovered how a convicted internet fraudster allegedly continued to operate cybercrime activities from Kirikiri Maximum Security Custodial Centre in Lagos, leading to the arrest and suspension of several prison officials.
Similarly, security agencies uncovered a fake bank alert syndicate allegedly coordinated by an inmate at the Kuje Custodial Centre in Abuja, while another inmate was convicted for defrauding a bank manager of millions of naira through telephone deception while serving a prison sentence.
Minister of Interior, Dr. Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, has vowed that correctional officers found collaborating with inmates to facilitate criminal activities would face severe sanctions.
According to the minister, the Federal Government is strengthening surveillance across custodial centres through improved technology, biometric monitoring systems and enhanced intelligence coordination to prevent prisons from becoming operational bases for organised crime.
Security experts have also called for broader reforms, including the deployment of signal-jamming technology, body scanners, artificial intelligence-powered surveillance systems and stronger collaboration among the Department of State Services (DSS), the Nigeria Police Force, the EFCC and the Nigerian Correctional Service.
They stressed that eliminating corruption within the correctional system and prosecuting compromised officers remain critical to tackling prison-based criminal networks and restoring public confidence in Nigeria’s custodial system.
Source: Vanguard
