Illegal Killing Of Prison Inmates.

On January 18, 2014, Mr. Hamani Tidjani, a prison inmate, died at the Kirikiri Maximum Security prison in Lagos. The deceased who was suffering from partial stroke was not given any medical attention by the prison authorities.

 He was a citizen of Niger Republic who was arrested in Cotonou, Benin Republic and brought to Nigeria in September 2003 for investigation and trial for some trans-border armed robberies and allied criminal offences.

 After a prolonged trial he was convicted by an Ijebu Ode High Court in 2011 for receiving stolen goods and sentenced to a 10-year jail term. Although the deceased completed the sentence he was however not released from prison custody as he was standing trial for similar offences in the Lagos High Court.

In the last one year or thereabout, four other convicted prisoners of Nigerian nationality, namely Messrs Ganiyu Adeniyi, Danda Akanbi, Thomas Odafe and Ariyo Osisanya had died in the same prison on account of medical neglect. From the information at our disposal, the killing of prison inmates through medical neglect is not uncommon in all other prisons in the country.

For instance, a Mr. Toyese Kehinde who had served a month jail term for his inability to pay a fine of N5,000.00 for an environmental offence died at the Benin prison on September 20, 2013. 

The said Mr. Kehinde was illegally detained after the completion of his sentence. A week later, a 21-year old undergraduate of the University of Benin, Ibrahim Momodu also died in the Benin Prison. 

Another inmate, James Oglesby, had died last year after he was beaten by two other prisoners inside the prison’s recreation yard.

In a similar vein, Mr. Sunday Akinyemi, who was standing trial for conspiracy and stealing of funds belonging to his own company also died in December, 2012. 

In that case, the Justice E.A Adebajo (now retired) of the Lagos High Court had refused to allow the applicant who was standing trial before him to travel abroad at his own expense to treat cancer of the colon which was diagnosed by the military hospital, Ikoyi and confirmed by the Lagos University Teaching Hospital while he was undergoing trial before the judge.

 When the health condition of the defendant became critical our law firm requested the Ikoyi prison management to either treat him or release him for treatment.

As the request was turned down we applied to the Federal High Court for the enforcement of the fundamental right of the detainee to life. 

In granting the prayer of the detainee to travel abroad for medical treatment at his own expense, Justice Mohammed Idris rightly held that:

“There is no doubt that life is the ultimate measure of all things and for that reason the right to life is unarguably the most fundamental of all liberties. Without the right to life, no other right can be enjoyed, and it is for that reason that it is guaranteed under section 33 of the Constitution, and Article 4 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights.”

It is our submission that prisoners are entitled to all the fundamental rights guaranteed to other citizens save the right to personal liberty and freedom of movement. In Peter Nemi v. The State (1996) 6 NWLR (PT 452) the Court of Appeal held that the life of a convict on death row cannot be terminated without due process of law. 

In Nasiru Bello v The State (198) 2 N.S.C.C. 1257 the Supreme Court awarded reparation to the family of the deceased who was executed by the Oyo State government while his appeal was pending at the Court of Appeal.

To be continued

Falana, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, wrote from Lagos