A number of inmates have been killed after
soldiers stationed at the Kirikiri Medium Prison,
Lagos were called in to quell a riot which broke
among inmates of the prison on Friday, an
eyewitness has told Saturday PUNCH.
Saturday PUNCH learnt from a source who
pleaded anonymity that a protest against the
seizure of a ceiling fan belonging to an inmate
degenerated into the riot which might have
claimed the lives of a number of the prisoners.
Our source, who witnessed the incident, said the
shooting started around 1.30pm.
He said, “Someone brought in a ceiling fan for an
inmate referred to as the ‘general-overseer’ of
the prison’s Christian denomination. But the fan
was seized by the officer in-charge of the
prisons, who also allegedly ordered the inmate
detained.
“The inmate said he was the owner of the ceiling
fan and only sent it out of the prison for
repairs.”
According to this source, the inmate was later
released after protests by his colleagues who felt
he was being unjustly punished. But the situation
was said to have degenerated beyond control,
necessitating the intervention of soldiers at the
prisons.
“By the time the inmate was released, the other
prisoners had started throwing stones at
windows and getting violent. The soldiers shot
sporadically at the inmates as they ran into their
cells, but many of them were hit,” our source
said.
As of the time of filing this report, there was no
confirmation on the actual number of prisoners
killed but our source claimed to have seen the
dead bodies of a number of inmates and some
injured prisoners with bullet wounds being
transported to the hospital within the prison.
But the spokesperson for the Nigerian Prisons
Service, Mr. Ope Fatinikun, told our
correspondent on the phone that there was
indeed a riot at the prison, which he claimed
was not violent.
He said, “No inmate was shot at, but 12 of them
who sustained minor injuries have been given
treatment.
“If anybody tells you he saw dead bodies of shot
inmates, he should provide pictures. We have
passed that stage something like that could not
have happened without someone getting a
picture.”
