Chinedu Udeora, an inmate at the Awka Correctional Centre in Anambra State, has been nursing a broken leg for at least three years without orthopaedic care, FIJ has gathered.
Udeora suffered a trailer accident that rendered one of his legs broken right before his arrest and remand.
In mid-2021, Kenneth Amakeze, a priest in the Awka Diocese of the Catholic Church, visited the prison and met Udeora for the first time.
Udeora was using crutches and favouring this injured leg.
Speaking with FIJ on October 30, Amakeze said he visited the prison often and always wondered why the injured inmates received poor healthcare.
”I began sending money for his drugs and the treatment of other inmates, but Udeora looks like he may need an amputation or bone setting,” Amakeze told FIJ.
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FIJ could not obtain a picture of this inmate’s condition at press time as officials would not allow filming within the premises.
However, on Wednesday, FIJ called Ikenna Ikebudu, an official in the prison.
Ikebudu said the prison was providing medical care for the inmate, but he blamed the deteriorating situation on the fact that Udeora had no family members intent on taking him to a hospital.
”We are dressing the wound and taking care of him as we do with other inmates,” he told FIJ.
“His family has not come to say they want to take him to an orthopaedic hospital. When he came here, he came with crutches, and he still uses those crutches till now.”
FIJ called the Nigeria Correctional Service (NCoS) after speaking with Ikebudu. An NCoS responder said the service would look into the matter and get back to the reporter, but as of press time, they had not done so.
FIJ also sent messages to Alao Babatunde, the Chief Press Secretary to Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, the Minister of Interior, on Thursday. Babatunde said the ministry will look into the matter.
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