In
the cell block reserved for nursing mothers and pregnant inmates at the
Kirikiri Female Prison, Lagos, toddlers clung to their mothers’ chests.
They observed our correspondent, when he visited last week Saturday,
with a bemused expression on their young faces.
They are in prison because their mothers
are inmates. Apparently, they weren’t aware of a better life out there.
They probably thought it was normal to be confined only to the four
walls of the prison. No friends, no birthday parties, no relationship at
all with other children outside the prison walls. They are victims of
circumstances and will remain so until they are 18 months old.
These children – nine of them – were
born within the walls of the prison. They live a regimented life; one
brought about by the fact that in prison, rules are meant to be obeyed.
When to sleep, when to eat, when to wake up, when to switch off the
light and when to put it on are all regulated by prison authorities and
this is the life these children have been born into.
The children are all below 18 months, so
they could not interact verbally with our correspondent during the
visit, which was aimed at shedding light on their lives.
“When the children are a year and half
old (18 months), the mothers have to let them go. That is the
regulation. Families of the inmates take the children away and take care
of them till the mother gets out,” spokesperson of the Nigerian Prisons
Service in Lagos, Mr. Biyi Jeje, had explained to a source.
When the gate to the main yard of the
prison swung open on the day our correspondent visited, dozens of
inmates were seen doing their laundry on the grassy open ground.
Chattering while some were laughing, the
inmates (the prison officials forbade them being called prisoners) were
cheerful. An official of the prison told Saturday PUNCH why.
“They have the opportunity of doing
their laundry once in a week. It is like a social time for them. They
are able to wash their clothes and beddings and interact more,” the
officials said.
A prayer and counseling session was
ongoing in another part of the prison. A dozen inmates in white
prison-style gown clapped and sang in a small hall, thanking God for
life and good health.
Our correspondent was ushered into the cells of the nursing mothers.
A couple of them shared a small cell with bunk beds and the others shared a bigger one.
Twenty five-year-old Shade (not real
name) had her five-month-old baby boy in her arms when our correspondent
entered the cell she shared with five other nursing mothers. Prison
officials were also in tow.
It was not eating time, so our correspondent could not observe how the children were fed.
“You can ask them any question so far as
it has nothing to do with why they are here and you protect their
identities. We don’t want trouble from their lawyers,” an official said.
Our correspondent asked Shade if she
would tell her child that he was born in prison when he becomes older.
Without hesitation, she said ‘Yes’.
She said she had only spent seven months in the prison. The inmate gave birth two months after getting to the prison.
Her answer was surprising because most
of the other inmates our correspondent asked the same question said they
would keep that fact from their children.
“I think he has a right to know. I knew
nothing about what brought me here. My son’s father was the one involved
and he died during the incident. But what do I tell him when he grows
up and asks for his dad? I have to tell him the truth,” she said, as
tears dropped down her cheeks.
Our correspondent could not confirm
whether the incident in which her husband died was a robbery or not, as
prison officials maintained it would not be appropriate to discuss her
case since it was still before a court.
Right from when he was in his mother’s womb, up to the point he was born, it had been a tough life for Shade’s toddler.
The mother was seven months pregnant
when she was arrested, detained, taken to court and sent to prison to
await an uncertain fate.
She told Saturday PUNCH she was given a bail but had not been able to meet the bail conditions set by the court.
Her child remains locked up too; his fate intertwined with that of his mother.
By estimation, that little child will be
in prison with his mother till September 2014, unless the woman is able
to meet her bail conditions or is freed and acquitted before then and
released.
“I won’t be happy at all if they have to
take him away from me when he is 18 months. My mother will be the one
to take him. But by God’s grace, I will be released before then,” Shade
said.
Everybody present said, ‘Amen’ with sincere sympathy. Tears streamed down the inmate’s face.
A 22-year old inmate, Saturday PUNCH also spoke with, had a fifteen-month-old baby girl.
“Does your baby eat prison food like you do?” our correspondent asked her.
“Apart from the normal breast-feeding, they also provide us with baby food which we give our babies sometimes,” she said.
The inmate said she knew she was three-month pregnant before she entered the prison.
By calculation, she would have got to prison around November 2011 and would have given birth to her child around May 2012.
Saturday PUNCH also learnt that
she was an awaiting trial inmate, just like Shade and most of the other
nursing mothers and expectant inmates at the prison.
When asked if she would tell her child
she was born in prison, she said, “I cannot tell her she was born in
prison when she is older because that will not be good for her.”
Another inmate, Rachael (not real name),
was one month pregnant when she got to the prison in June 2012. Like
other nursing mothers in the prison, the young dark-complexioned inmate
prayed she would not have to let her child go as well.
Even though many of the inmates insisted
they would prefer not to tell their children they were born in prison
when they grow up, they said they would not want to release their
children if they had to stay in prison beyond their babies’ 18th month
birthday.
“I pray I leave the prison before she is one and half years old, so that I won’t have to give her to my family,” she said.
It was a familiar sound at the female
prison sometime in February 2013, when Rachael went into labour, the
inmates told our correspondent. Her fellow inmates quickly alerted
officials stationed at the block.
She was rushed to the prison’s hospital. A few hours later, she had her baby girl.
For inmates like Rachael, the voice of their children give them comfort in the gloom of their incarceration.
But one of the nursing mothers did not give birth in the prison.
She said her baby was five months old
when she got to the prison and had to take her along because the child
was too young and nobody could take care of her.
“My husband did not say ‘no’ when I told him I had to take my baby with me to the prison,” she said.
One of the pregnant inmates told Saturday PUNCH,
“I got here in May and I am now eight months pregnant. We did not know I
will end up coming to prison. My husband was bothered when I was coming
here. But there was nothing anybody could do.
“I pray I leave soon. But I cannot let my child know he or she was born in prison later in life.”
There are five other pregnant inmates like her at the Kirikiri Female Prison presently.
While some children are born into the
warmth of family love and surrounded by relations, these children have
to make do with the love they get from prison officials and inmates.
Their Christening is done by inmates, with one of them officiating.
Jeje explained the process to Saturday PUNCH.
“When an inmate puts to bed, a family member or two may be informed to
be present during the Christening, but it is usually done by the inmates
themselves.
“The mother chooses a name for the baby
and the inmate who acts as a pastor among them whenever they worship in
their chapel does the Christening. There is usually no ceremony.
“Sometimes too, some churches come to the prison to minister and help out in a situation like this.”
Our correspondent also paid a visit to a
crèche the prison authorities had put in place to give the children a
semblance of life outside, in the prison.
The linoleum-floored crèche had various
colourful toys which were said to have been provided by the Nigerian
Prison Service with the help of non-governmental organisations. It also
had three little baby mattresses.
Photographs were allowed to be taken in
the crèche, but not in the main yard of the prison and the cells in
order to ‘protect the inmates’ privacy.’
They may not like the idea of outsiders seeing where they are being imprisoned, our correspondent was told.
A noticeable feature of the nursing
mothers’ wing of the female prison was the total absence of baby cries,
which one would expect in a place where children live.
Perhaps, as young as they are, the toddlers are attuned to the regimented prison life.
“What if these children have health issues in the middle of the night and their mothers need help?” our correspondent asked.
Jeje replied, “That is not a problem at
all. Two officials are posted to each of the blocks round the clock,
whether night or day. Any problem is quickly attended to.
“Our hospital here has three doctors and eight nurses and one lab technologist. Tests are conducted here.
“It is sad that there are still many
problems with our criminal justice system. Many of these people should
not even be here. The reason behind ensuring that the children are
handed over to the inmates’ relatives 18 months after birth is to ensure
that they do not develop the memory of their mothers’ incarceration.
“Incarceration is problem enough for
this people. This is why we ensure that the nursing mothers, pregnant
ones and others are treated with as much dignity as possible.”
He explained that the provision the
prison makes for the babies of the inmates was to ensure that the prison
experience doesn’t end up denting the lives of the toddlers.
“Our responsibility is to reform these
children’s mothers irrespective of the offences they have committed. It
is easy for the police to arrest people and for the court to sentence as
many people to jail as they want, but the prison has to provide for
them and reform them, no matter how many they are. We are mere
custodians who do not complain about the number of inmates sent to us to
secure,” Jeje said.
The presence of these children in
prisons calls to question the amount of attention given to children’s
welfare by the Nigerian government as Kirikiri Prisons have to rely on
the magnanimity of NGOs for much of its provisions.
Our correspondent spoke with child
rights activist, Mrs. Esther Ogwu, who directs a non-governmental
organisation, Child Rights Foundation, on this. She is of the opinion
that government’s focus on child services in the country is grossly
inadequate.
She said, “It is very simple, children
generally are rarely mentioned when government officials speak about
important projects they need to focus on in the country.
“Why is it that in Nigeria, we are not
taking child services and child welfare as seriously as countries like
the US is taking it?
“Children of prison inmates need special
attention, far more than those who are not in their situation. But
then, the Federal Government needs to make the issue of children
generally a top priority. Their education, welfare and development
should be on the daily agenda of the government.”
She expressed doubt that Nigerian government has any concrete programme to monitor the wellbeing of children born in prisons.
In Nigeria, children are celebrated with
promises of more welfare programmes and focus on child development on
May 29 – a day set aside as Children’s Day.
Ogwu said more often than not, the promises end that same day.
However, child psychiatrist, Dr.
Mashidat Mojeed-Bello of the Federal Neuro-Psychiatric Hospital, Lagos,
has a different opinion on the separation of the inmate mothers and
their children after 18 months.
She said, “We have to understand that
the first three years of a child’s life is very important for
mother-child bonding. Remember the mother is the primary care giver.
“In the western world, there are mother
and child units in prisons with adequate provision for their emotional
needs. But that does not exist in Nigerian prisons.
“In cases where the children are given
to the mothers’ relations after 18 months, those relations are not
usually prepared to take care of them.”
She explained that how the children turn
out in life would have a lot to do with the father and mother figures
who take over their care if the mother stays in prison.
Mojeed-Bello said only love and care can mitigate the effect of emotional damage the children may suffer.
She stated, “The children may face a lot of stigma for having a mother in prison and being born there.
“Telling the children they were born in
prison when they grow older may not have much effect depending on what
the mother went to prison for.
“But it is just absurd that there are no
concrete arrangements and social support for mother and child in
Nigerian prisons. It is necessary for bonding. A lot needs to be done to
ensure the children grow up normally like other children.”
PUNCH Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everyday
Advertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
No comments
Post a Comment
Kindly drop a comment below.
(Comments are moderated. Clean comments will be approved immediately)
Advert Enquires - Reach out to us at NigerianEye@gmail.com