An investigative panel says it has found no evidence that Idris Okuneye, a popular crossdresser known as Bobrisky, slept outside the prison walls after she was sentenced.
Bobrisky was released from prison on August 5 after she was
sentenced to six months on April 12 for abusing the naira.
Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, minister of interior, had ordered a
probe after VeryDarkMan, an activist, shared a video in which Bobrisky
purportedly claimed that she bribed some Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission (EFCC) officials to drop the money laundering charge against her.
In the footage, a voice allegedly belonging to Bobrisky also
claimed that a “godfather”, alongside Haliru Nababa, the controller general of
the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS), ensured she served the six-month
sentence in a private apartment and not in prison.
On September 30, Tunji-Ojo constituted an investigative
panel chaired by Magdalena Ajani, permanent secretary of the ministry of
interior, on ‘Alleged Corruption & Other Violations Against the Nigerian
Correctional Service’.
Reading the phase one report of the panel at the ministry of
interior on Monday, Uju Agomoh, executive director and founder of Prisoners’
Rehabilitation and Welfare Action (PRAWA), said the panel “did not find any
evidence thus far that suggested that Mr Okuneye slept outside the custodial
centre during the period of his imprisonment, which was from 12th April 2024 to
the 5th August 2024, which is a six-month correctional sentence with the usual
remission applicable”.
Agomoh said during this period, Bobrisky was transferred
from the Kuje Custodial Centre to Medium Security Custodial Centre in
Kirikiri-Apapa, Lagos; and then to the Maximum Security Custodial Centre, from
where she was discharged after completion of her sentence.
The panel, however, said the cross-dresser’s transfer to a
maximum security facility as a first offender violated Section 164A and Section
164B of the Nigerian Correctional Service Act of 2019.
“The panel also found that Mr. Okuneye Idris enjoyed several
privileges while in custody, both at the Medium Security and the Maximum
Security Custodial Centres, which include, especially the following: furnished
single cells, humidifier, lots of visits by his family members and friends as
he desired, self-feeding, designated inmates to run errands for him, access to
fridge and television, and possibly access to his phone,” the statement reads.
“It is necessary to further investigate if the above
privileges provided for Okuneye Idris were financially motivated and based on
corrupt practices by correctional officers.
“The panel believes that the peculiar case of the inmates
and the inmates’ physical look and behaviour pose a threat, and the lack of
laid-down rules for the treatment of such a case may have necessitated such
privileges to be granted to Okunenye Idris.
“The panel recommends
that clear guidelines need to be set up to guide operations regarding such
incidents in future.
“Steps should be taken to avoid the obvious discriminatory
practices in relation to the socio-economic levels and other status of
inmates.”
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