NEWS: GUNSHOTS FIRED AS ANGRY INMATES PROTEST FOOD RATION AT JOS CUSTODIAL CENTER
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The reduction in their meal ration sparked a protest on Friday among the prisoners at the Jos Custodial Center in Plateau State.
They voiced their displeasure with the choice, which led to the prison administration having to use tear gas canisters and airgun shots to defuse the situation.
The contractor in charge of the correctional center’s food supply, according to sources there, had complained to the authorities about the high price of food items, particularly rice, which is a staple meal for the prisoners and will have to be cut back from four times a week to twice a week. Instead, grains or garri will be used in their place.
The decision did not appear to sit well with the prisoners, as they voiced their complaints on Friday during a regular briefing by the responsible officer.
The controller of the Plateau State Command of the Nigerian Correctional Service, Raphael Ibinuhi, confirmed the incident to journalists at the Jos facility. He said that when the rebellious prisoners refused to go back to their cells, the controller deployed tear gas canisters and fired rounds into the air to scatter them.
“By the time the inmates were called this morning for a briefing, they were not happy that the period for consumption of rice had been reduced from four times to two in a week and expressed dissatisfaction with the development,” Ibinuhi said.
“I instructed the officer in charge to return them to their cells but instead they became violent and started throwing stones at the personnel. In response and to keep the situation from getting out of hand, we have to resort to firing tear gas canisters and gunshots, which enable the handsmen to return the inmates to the cells. Some of the personnel sustained minor injuries from the stones thrown at them but no inmates were injured as the situation was brought under control.”
There are 1,064 prisoners in the Jos Custodial Center, with 1,035 males and 19 females. There are 647 men and 14 women in the figure who are awaiting trial, 205 men and 4 women in the convict category, and 131 men, 52 men, and one woman serving a life sentence in the death register.
Many Nigerians have protested against the country’s rising cost of living and asked the Federal Government to ease their suffering.
Insisting that his economic policies have long-term rewards, President Bola Tinubu has urged patience. On the other hand, he denounced as inappropriate the statewide demonstrations that the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) organized on Monday.
“Allow me to throw a jab here. The Labour Union should understand that no matter how much we cling to our freedom and rights, to call for a strike within nine months of an administration is unacceptable,” Tinubu said in Lagos while commissioning the Lagos Red Line Train connecting Agbado to Oyingbo.
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