Prison officials at the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS) have diverted funds meant for treating Oyedeji Adedoyin, an inmate serving a sentence at the Kuje Medium Security Custodial Centre, Abuja, FIJ has learnt.
FIJ learnt from an insider on Friday that Adedoyin, who is between his late 50s and early 60s, has been ill from Type 3 Diabetes and High Blood Pressure (HBP), but the officials have denied him access to his drugs.
The insider also confirmed that N40,000 donated by other inmates for Adedoyin’s treatment was diverted by them. Prison officials are acting as if they want the inmate to die.
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“Adedoyin has been sick for a very long time and has been sleeping on the hospital bed for over three months. He has HBP and is also diabetic,” the insider told FIJ.
“He is a convict with only one year left on his sentence, but has been neglected for days now. They want him to die here.”
FIJ’s source said that when fellow inmates saw how the officers neglected Adedoyin, they contributed money for him to be taken to Specialist Hospital Gwagwalada, but they only took him outside and turned him back halfway.
The order to return him to the facility was issued by Olatubosun Ajibogun, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Comptroller of the NCoS.
“They pretended to take him to a specialist hospital in Gwagwalada, but only took him out on the road and returned him. The money contributed for him to be treated was diverted by the officers,” this source said.
“Inmates’ funds being diverted is nothing new to this facility. They do that every now and then.”
The insider added that when Hussein Baba Yussuf, the Chief Judge of the FCT, visited the facility, Ajibogun also instructed that Adedoyin be hidden from him.
“When the FCT chief judge visited, they hid the man because he had no money to give them, so he wasn’t presented to him,” he recounted.
“As we speak, many Manchi (the rich people), as they are called, are planning to be taken to Gwagwalada Specialist Hospital, Ajibogun is about to approve their relocation, but they abandoned Adedoyin.
“The majority of inmates they were supposed to present to Justice Yussuf were not presented, but those who could pay but were not qualified were presented. That was why the chief judge did not release anyone.”
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The insider added that the prison’s officials have also denied Adedoyin access to his family to inform them of his ill health.
“They have denied him access to reaching his people and cut him off completely,” he told FIJ.
FIJ called the phone numbers on the NCoS website on Friday evening for comments on the diversion and neglect of Adedoyin. An official answered the call twice but did not speak.
FIJ immediately sent a text message. No response has been received at press time.
The post INSIDER: Kuje Prison Officers ‘Divert’ N40,000 Meant for Dying Inmate’s Treatment, Want Him Dead appeared first on Foundation For Investigative Journalism.